No abstract

Purpose: Though prior literature has shown that virtual conferences improve accessibility and provide a comparable educational experience, further research is required to characterize their educational value. Methods: In this repeated cross-sectional study, demographic and survey data were compared between attendance perspectives for the in-person student-led internal medicine conference held in 2019 and subsequent virtual conference held in 2020. Results: There were 146 attendees at the in-person conference and 200 attendees at the online conference, in which 32 (22% response rate) and 52 responses (26% response rate) were gathered, respectively. Comparison of Likert Scale data via Mann-Whitney U Test revealed that learning objectives were better met in-person for the overall conference (p < 0.01) and didactic sessions (p < .05), but not for workshops, in which there was no significant difference. Survey takers noted the virtual conference to be more accessible on multiple factors, but felt as though their potential for interaction with other participants was more limited. Conclusions: Results indicate that though the virtual conference appeared more accessible to attendees, overall learning objectives for the conference and didactic sessions were better met in-person. Interestingly however, there was no observed difference in perceived educational value for small group workshops.

Patients who wander as one of their psychological and behavioural symptoms of dementia are often unable to follow or recall Infection Prevention and Control precautions, putting them at risk of contracting or spreading COVID-19. Physical and chemical restraints have been used to limit the risk of transmission to wandering patients and their care providers, but restraints are not the standard of care for wandering behaviour in non-pandemic scenarios. Although provincial policies on restraint use are available, their guidance may not provide the context-dependent information necessary for individual patient decisions. To address this knowledge gap, we reviewed the medical, ethical, and legal considerations through an interdisciplinary approach including nurses, physicians, ethicists, hospital leadership, risk management, and legal counsel. We present an ethical framework that front-line health-care workers can use to create a balanced patient-centred care plan for incapable wandering patients who are at risk of contracting or spreading COVID-19.