SCI-U: E-learning for patient education in spinal cord injury rehabilitation

The Journal of Spinal Cord Medicine, 2012 · DOI: 10.1179/2045772312Y.0000000044 · Published: January 1, 2012

Spinal Cord Injury Patient Experience Education

Simple Explanation

Effective patient education is a critical part of rehabilitation for people with spinal cord injury (SCI). Providing patients with the information they need to care for themselves can help prevent or minimize secondary complications over time. E-learning has the potential to improve the effectiveness and reach of education initiatives while reducing costs. E-learning has been used as an effective tool for educational delivery in corporate and healthcare environments. The SCI-U courses were produced using a four-step development process as shown in Fig. 1: content specification, content development, production and population, and finally, review and revision.

Study Duration

12 Months

Participants

More than 100 subject-matter experts and 25 end-users

Evidence Level

Not specified

Key Findings

1
Five courses were created, each featuring more than 45 minutes of video content and hundreds of media assets. Preliminary evaluation results indicate that users were satisfied by the courses and perceived them to be effective.
2
Consumer report themes included (i) clarity of content, (ii) credible messengers with whom they identified, and (iii) an appreciation for multimodal concept reinforcement (e.g. quizzes, animation, illustration).
3
Clinicians themes included (i) appealing layout of software, (ii) approval of education design in line with principles of adult learning, and (iii) relevant and honest patient testimonials.

Research Summary

The aim of this project was to pilot the development of an online patient education resource. This involved the design both of the online courses themselves and of the process used to develop them. For almost all participants, this was a new and unusual kind of project. There was a significant amount of learning by doing, meaning that progress was initially slow but that there were significant gains in productivity as the team moved through the process. The courses developed for SCI-U show the potential for online patient education. Preliminary evaluation indicates that they are appreciated by end-users; further evaluation will focus on knowledge acquisition and retention.

Practical Implications

Enhanced Patient Education

E-learning resources like SCI-U can supplement traditional methods, providing accessible and engaging educational content for SCI patients.

Improved Self-Management

By providing tailored information and skill-development opportunities, SCI-U aims to empower patients to better manage their condition and prevent secondary complications.

Future Research Directions

Further studies should focus on integrating e-learning into clinical practice, assessing knowledge retention, and exploring the impact on behavior change and health outcomes.

Study Limitations

1
Because they contain a large amount of multimedia, the course files are very large (>50 GB).
2
the courses cannot be used on devices (such as iPhones and iPads) that cannot display Flash files.
3
there may be aspects of the courses (quizzes and tabs) that some of these users may have difficulty with.

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