Nurturing attachments group: A virtual group intervention for adults caring for traumatised children in the context of COVID-19

Background: Evidence indicates that the more traditional and behavioural parenting strategies are ineffective when parenting a child who has experienced developmental trauma. Recognising the need to parent with an attachment focus, the current paper evaluates the effectiveness of running the [Enfys] Nurturing Attachments Group, virtually, within the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Method: A pilot feasibility study evaluated eight bespoke groups. Consenting professionals and co-professionals completed the Brief Parental Self-Efficacy Scale (BFSS), Care Questionnaire (CQ) and the Parental Reflective Functioning Questionnaire (PRFQ). Results: One hundred forty individuals attended the groups, with 51 (36%) completing both pre-and post-measures. The results provide evidence that professionals and co-professionals reported statistically significant positive increases on both the BPSS ( d = .55) and CQ ( d = .62). For the PRFQ, the results showed a statistically significant decrease on the Pre-mentalising sub scale, a non-significant mid-range score for Certainty about Mental States and a non-significant increase for Parental Interest and Curiosity in Mental States. Conclusion: The study has demonstrated initial viability of effectively facilitating the [Enfys] Nurturing Attachments Group, virtually. Importantly, it has also shown that the group can be run with professionals alongside co-professionals.

Delivering a Tai Chi Intervention to Adults Aging with Mobility Disabilities Using Zoom

Many individuals aging with mobility disabilities experience barriers to participating in physical activity, including transportation challenges and the need for specialized instruction. Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, these participation barriers have been amplified due to lockdowns and restrictions. Tele-technologies, including videoconferencing platforms like Zoom, can facilitate access to exercise classes from one’s home. Virtual group exercise classes that incorporate social interaction have particular potential to support the physical and mental health of this population. This session will highlight lessons learned from launching the ‘Tele Tai Chi’ study, in which we are delivering an evidence-based Tai Chi program (Tai Chi for Arthritis) via Zoom to small group classes of older adults with long-term mobility disabilities. We will describe adaptations made in translating the in-person program to an interactive, online class, and provide an overview of a ‘Telewellness’ Tool that provides guidelines for using Zoom to deliver exercise classes to older adults.

P-OGC76 A patient engagement event to assess feasibility of preoperative enhanced recovery groups in patients with oesophagogastric cancer undergoing surgery

Background Enhanced recovery (ER) includes pre-operative counselling during individual patient consultations with multidisciplinary team (MDT) members. Patients can experience lengthy appointments seeing multiple professionals. This negatively impacts on their ability to retain and process information, and results in long, overrunning clinics. Separate, virtual ER group sessions have been proposed to deliver aspects of the pre-operative appointment which are common to all patients undergoing oesophagogastric (OG) cancer surgery. The aim is to improve patient engagement and experience, and improve efficiency of clinics. A patient engagement event was undertaken to gain feedback from patients about the existing service and the proposed virtual group. Methods A semi-structured telephone interview was developed with the support of a Patient & Public Engagement Team. The 30 minute interview covered aspects such as patient experience of ER information delivery, the quality of the information they received and their thoughts on attending virtual group sessions. Seventy patients, who had undergone surgery for OG cancer in the previous 14 months were invited to take part. A Health Informatics Team screened the patient list prior to invitation letters being sent. The telephone interviews took place in November 2020. Results Twenty-seven patients responded (37%). Of these, 89% felt they received all information required for surgery preparation. Over 50% reported receiving adequate information to support with common post-operative issues (dietary - 81%; physical activity - 55%) but would like more on others (psychological impact - 26%). Patients highlighted that the MDT clinic took many hours and information delivery was overwhelming. The internet was accessible to 85% and 56% thought the information provided prior to surgery could have been delivered in a virtual group. Patient perceived advantages to virtual groups included: peer support; reduced travel; and avoidance of information repetition and overload. Conclusions Patient preference, perspective and needs are paramount when designing healthcare services. Results from this patient engagement event suggest that the delivery of preoperative information and counselling as part of ER could be improved through the implementation of virtual ER groups. They also suggest that most patients perceive benefits to such a model, including the addition of peer support. The next steps in the proof of concept are to develop the virtual groups MDT content and pilot in a cohort of patients, evaluating patient related outcome measures and impact on service efficiency.

951. Virtually the Same: Our Experience Teaching Abx Before and During the Pandemic

Background Understanding core principles of empiric antibiotic (abx) therapy is essential for abx stewardship. Pre-pandemic, the “Abx 101” workshop taught students an initial approach to empiric abx. Due to the pandemic, the session became virtual. We hypothesized that the face-to-face version (FTF) would be more effective and more positively reviewed by students compared to the virtual. Methods For the FTF, 3 faculty facilitated workshops of 50 3rd year medical students. The intro reviewed the typical microbiota of body areas (or common pathogens for community-acquired disease in sterile spaces). Student small groups were assigned a category of abx coverage (e.g. “MRSA drugs”), and completed a worksheet to identify abx in the assigned category from a reference list of abx. Groups taught back to the class (jigsaw technique) about abx for their respective categories. Next, faculty facilitated a large group discussion in which they matched initial abx therapy for each body area’s typical microbiome or pathogens. Finally, groups presented cases to the class and identified likely diagnosis, most likely organisms, and appropriate empiric abx to target those organisms. For the virtual version, the format was adapted for a 1 hour online interactive session with 1 MD facilitator, 20-25 students, and no breakout groups/jigsaw technique. The content was unchanged other than fewer cases. Results 26 of 140 (19%) students completed the survey (n=13 FTF, n=13 virtual). An independent-samples t-test compared FTF and virtual overall satisfaction scores. There were no significant differences in satisfaction from the FTF (M=8.54, SD=1.04) and virtual sessions (M=8.62, SD=1.94); t(24)=-.126. p=0.901. 100% of both groups rated the session as quite/extremely relevant to their training and 100% of respondents in both groups deemed the format of the sessions appropriate for the content. In the FTF group, 76% of respondents felt the session was quite/extremely effective for learning about abx spectra of activity, compared to 69% in the virtual group (X2 (1, N = 26) = .195, p = .658). Conclusion “Abx 101” was relevant, effective, and formatted well for learning about empiric abx, in FTF and virtual versions. These findings suggest that this curriculum is effective overall and adapts well for in-person and remote learning. Disclosures All Authors: No reported disclosures