The potential of a self-assessment tool to identify healthcare professionals’ strengths and areas in need of professional development to aid effective facilitation of group-based, person-centered diabetes education

• DOI: 10.1186/s12909-017-1003-3
• Publication Date: 2017-09-18T08:28:33Z
• Authors: Vibeke Stenov; Gitte Wind; Timothy Skinner; Susanne Reventlow; Nana Folmann Hempler
• Keywords: Male; Communication skills; Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; Self-Assessment; Denmark; Health Personnel; Group-based patient education; Motivational Interviewing; Education; 03 medical and health sciences; 0302 clinical medicine; Patient Education as Topic; Professional skills; Educator behavior; Humans; Qualitative Research; Physician-Patient Relations; LC8-6691; Communication; 4. Education; Diabetes; R; Qualitative methods; Focus Groups; Ethnographic fieldwork; Special aspects of education; 3. Good health; Person-centered methods; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2; Health Care Surveys; Medicine; Female; Research Article

Healthcare professionals' person-centered communication skills are pivotal for successful group-based diabetes education. However, healthcare professionals are often insufficiently equipped to facilitate person-centeredness and many have never received post-graduate training. Currently, assessing professionals' skills in conducting group-based, person-centered diabetes education primarily focus on experts measuring and coding skills on various scales. However, learner-centered approaches such as adequate self-reflective tools have been shown to emphasize professional autonomy and promote engagement. The aim of this study was to explore the potential of a self-assessment tool to identify healthcare professionals' strengths and areas in need of professional development to aid effective facilitation of group-based, person-centered diabetes education.The study entails of two components: 1) Field observations of five different educational settings including 49 persons with diabetes and 13 healthcare professionals, followed by interviews with 5 healthcare professionals and 28 persons with type 2 diabetes. 2) One professional development workshop involving 14 healthcare professionals. Healthcare professionals were asked to assess their person-centered communication skills using a self-assessment tool based on challenges and skills related to four educator roles: Embracer, Facilitator, Translator, and Initiator. Data were analyzed by hermeneutic analysis. Theories derived from theoretical model 'The Health Education Juggler' and techniques from 'Motivational Interviewing in Groups' were used as a framework to analyze data. Subsequently, the analysis from the field notes and interview transcript were compared with healthcare professionals' self-assessments of strengths and areas in need to effectively facilitate group-based, person-centered diabetes education.Healthcare professionals self-assessed the Translator and the Embracer to be the two most skilled roles whereas the Facilitator and the Initiator were identified to be the most challenged roles. Self-assessments corresponded to observations of professional skills in educational programs and were confirmed in the interviews.Healthcare professionals self-assessed the same professional skills as observed in practice. Thus, a tool to self-assess professional skills in facilitating group-based diabetes education seems to be useful as a starting point to promote self-reflections and identification of healthcare professionals' strengths and areas of need of professional development.