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

Abstract

BackgroundHealthcare 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.MethodsThe 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.ResultsHealthcare 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.ConclusionHealthcare 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.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s12909-017-1003-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Group-based, person-centered diabetes self-management education: healthcare professionals’ implementation of new approaches

“…When examined in light of theories about key features of new approaches that support their implementation, the professional development described here paid careful initial attention to the current local contexts in which the intervention took place by observing and identifying potential enablers and barriers [25]. We also identified a common ground in the form of agreement among HCPs on the core principles of delivering group-based, person-centered diabetes self-management education [29] and high readiness to change, implying that HCPs were committed to take action. We engaged HCPs as change agents and customized approaches to match their local circumstances, perceived needs, and existing skills.…”

“…The Health Education Juggler’ [28] and MI techniques [27] inspired to a self-reflection tool, aiming at stimulating HCPs’ self-reflection about their professional skills by identifying their strengths and areas in need. The development of the self-assessment tool is presented elsewhere [29]. Furthermore, the model was used to evaluate HCPs’ implementation of new approaches.…”

Impact of patient‐centred diabetes self‐management education targeting people with type 2 diabetes: an integrative review

“…People who are actively engaged in their care more frequently report better clinical outcomes, higher quality of life, healthier behaviours and enhanced self‐management skills ; however, many diabetes self‐management education and support programmes are more teacher‐centred than person‐centred because they are based on healthcare professionals’ understanding of the individual’s learning needs, rather than on the individual’s preferences and needs . To achieve positive outcomes it has been suggested that care should be based on the principles of person‐centredness where people with type 2 diabetes are actively involved in their own care to better meet their individual needs .…”

Implementing a collaborative model in health education practice: a process evaluation of a health education programme targeting users with mental health problems

“…Our findings indicate that professionals sometimes overlooked cues from users regarding health behaviour change; dialogue and reflection about health and values were almost never translated into concrete actions for health behaviour change. This suggests that professionals found it difficult to achieve an effective balance as facilitators between being directive and nondirective, which is supported by a study of professionals' person-centred communication skills [28]. According to Cribb and Entwistle [29], this issue reflects the challenge of balancing autonomy-supportive and autonomyundermining forms of communication.…”