The Importance of Program Evaluation: How Can it be Applied to Diverse Genetics Education Settings?

The role of a genetic counselor often entails providing education to patient, community and/or health professional groups. While counseling supervision assists genetic counselors to be reflective about their clinical work and to enhance clinical skills, evaluation is a rather analogous process in the provision of education. Program evaluation of education activities can be applied to provide information about the needs of the target group (needs assessment), the delivery of the program (process evaluation) as well as determining the extent to which the education activity has met its intended aims (summative evaluation). Evaluation assists the educator to assess the impact of their program and provides an evidence base about genetics education. Although program evaluation can be a complex activity, the tools are ones that can be used by individuals to evaluate single or simple education activities. The components of evaluation are discussed with reference to genetic counseling practice and three very different examples of actual evaluations are provided to illustrate the diversity of evaluation strategy and programs to which it can be applied.     

合肥市医师人文医学执业技能培训现状与需求分析

人文医学执业技能培训是提升医生人文素质和执业能力的重要途径。为了更好地了解合肥市医师人文医学执业技能的培训现状和需求,选取合肥市21家医疗机构的1 048名医生进行问卷调查。调查结果显示,知道\"人文医学执业技能\"这一概念的医生占39.7%,参加过培训的医生占20.5%,接受过培训的医生对培训效果的评价并不高,但却有较高的培训需求意愿。由此可见,进一步加强人文医学执业技能的培训力度、完善培训内容和方法是当前培训工作的重中之重。     

Analyse des pratiques professionnelles en formation initiale des enseignants : dispositifs et retentissements

The present paper deals with an analysis of professional practices in initial teacher education. We prove how some characteristics of the system, depending on the nature of the proposed protocol or the size of the group, modify the nature of the reflexive work, as well as the perception of the interests and relevance of this kind of system. In order to do so, we rely on a survey precising the main effects and consequences of these systems on the trainee teacher's representations of their professional acts and identity development.     

Health professionals: A source of variance in health outcomes

Abstract

The behaviour of health professionals is rarely considered systematically by psychologists. This paper makes the following argument: first, that the behaviour of health professionals is influenced by other factors as well as medical knowledge; second, that various psychological models of human behaviour previously used only in considering the behaviour of patients may also be used to explain, predict and change the behaviour of health professionals; third, to implement effective care the behaviour of health professionals needs to be considered alongside that of patients.     

Reducing obstacles to the provision of quality diabetic care

Abstract

High quality diabetic care is seen as influenced by the organisation of care, health care workers' involvement in diabetes-specific areas, co-operation among staff members, the availability of resources, and the competence of medical staff (including both physicians and nurses). In a prospective study we have tested a programme for improvements of the quality of diabetes services which combined organisational development and continuing medical education (CME) measures. The study involved 34 primary health care centres over an 18 month period and was based on the responses to questionnaires answered by 123 general practitioners and 247 registered nurses at the 34 PHCCs.

The combined programme had a considerable influence on inter-group co-operation, staff members' perceptions of resources available, and nurses' involvement in diabetic care (54 versus 30% seeing diabetic patients for regular check-ups).

The results show that, in order to diminish obstacles to high quality care, organisation of care as well as care workers' theoretical knowledge has to be focused.     

From bench to bedside: Methods that help clinicians use evidence‐based practice

Despite the increasing number of evidence‐based practices and the significant use of public resources towards these, clinicians and practitioners do not consistently use evidence available to them. This paper examines methods that help clinicians and practitioners adopt evidence‐based practices. A review was done of 69 systematic reviews, meta‐analyses and literature reviews. Several methods can change the knowledge and skill base of professionals, and, to a lesser extent, patient health outcomes; namely, educational interventions; electronic methods; credible and skilled leadership; feedback; discussion; financial incentives; guidelines; portfolios; simulations; and visits from trained individuals. While robust evidence is lacking, effective interventions are likely to be multimodal; address the needs of the target group; be well‐planned; be intensive; encourage active participation; be relevant to the clinical context; and provide opportunities for ongoing professional development. The dissemination of evidence to clinicians and practitioners requires well‐considered multimodal interventions that are inclusive, comprehensive and ongoing.     

The Australian Psychology Workforce 2: A national profile of psychologists' education,training, specialist qualifications and continuous professional development

Objective data on the training profiles of Australian psychologists is scarce, despite important reforms across the higher education sector. This study aimed to profile Australian psychological training leading to registration. Universities, Registration Boards and registrants were profiled during 2008. Results revealed that there were 1063 postgraduate places a year across 34 university postgraduate training programs, with two thirds of places in clinical psychology. However, half of psychologists do not undertake postgraduate training, but undertake four years of university psychology followed by a 2 year internship (4+2) to make up the minimum standard for registration of 6 years training. Those with over 6 years of university training tended to work more in clinical, university or specialised areas of practice, whereas those with 4+2 were more likely to work in schools and general counselling. One quarter of psychologists are College members and 13% have doctoral qualifications. Analysis revealed a workforce that is actively engaged in ongoing professional development, supervision and further training. The profession has grown steadily in size by 6.24% per annum over the past 8 years and this presents a challenge for increasing the supply of postgraduate training places.