Speaker

Nov 16-17, 2023    Paris, France
2nd International Conference on

Digital Health and Telemedicine

Jackie Guendouzi

Jackie Guendouzi

United States

Title: The importance of role-playing assignments and peer/self-analysis in online training for telehealth

Abstract:

Introduction: The impact of COVID19 resulted in a rapid expansion of digital and telehealth services to deliver healthcare across the globe. For clinical students this resulted in the transfer of in-person internship training classes to online modalities. Many clinical training programs had yet to introduce classes that focused on the differences in carrying out a diagnostic or intake interview in an online platform. The way we manage clinical interactions online often rely on not only different communication skills but also the ability to manage technology. This applies to both clinician and patient.

Objective: The aim of this project was to evaluate the effectiveness of role-playing assignments that required students enrolled in a Child Life Specialist program (medical play therapy) to prepare videos of themselves conducting a telehealth session that included explaining a medical condition or intervention to a young child or adolescent.

Methods: Students prepared, set-up, and videoed at least 3 sessions of the role-playing assignment. Once completed they were given a self-evaluation sheet and an evaluation sheet to give to five different outside raters. The videos were uploaded to their Moodle class site and were reviewed by peers in their class. The students submitted a final self-report that included an overall assessment of their performance and specifically noted any features that may have affected the outcomes of the telehealth session. The assignment reports were compared to prior years’ reports taken from students who had only completed in-person internship experiences.

Results: The assignment reports from the tele-health role-playing and the in-person reports were noticeably different. The telehealth role-playing reports yield more detailed and insightful self-reflection.

Conclusion: This study highlighted the need for more structured and focused training in the area of digital and telehealth procedures to be added as core teaching components to clinical training programs.