Healthcare Professional Training Regarding Gestational Weight Gain: Recommendations and Future Directions

Purpose of review The aim of this review was to summarise recent evaluations of healthcare professional training regarding gestational weight gain and provide recommendations for future training. Recent findings A number of evaluated healthcare professional training sessions regarding gestational weight gain show promising results in terms of increased participant confidence and knowledge and impact on women’s outcomes. It is clear that the interventions which have also implemented resources in the practice environment to support training are the ones most likely to influence gestational weight gain. Summary Support from healthcare professionals are key to influence pregnant women’s weight gain and should be offered within the standard curriculum and through mandatory training. Factors influencing this support include women’s and healthcare professional characteristics, interpersonal and healthcare system and policy factors. All of these need to be considered when developing healthcare professional training to support women with their gestational weight gain.

Exploring what constitutes effective continued healthcare professional training: A qualitative study and the development of a training intervention component taxonomy.

Background Continued healthcare professional training can lead to improvements in patient care if delivered effectively but there is a lack of research exploring the key factors that underpin successful training. The aims of this research were to first identify what healthcare professionals and experts in training/behaviour change perceive to be effective training, second to produce a framework for delivering training optimised for effectiveness, and third create a taxonomy of training intervention components to be used for designing, reporting and evaluating healthcare professional training. Methods Two semi-structured qualitative interview studies were conducted: Study 1 participants were 18 healthcare professionals who had attended training to implement collaborative care for the management of depression and anxiety in patients with long term conditions; Study 2 participants were 16 experts in training or behaviour change. Data were analysed using framework analyses. A preliminary framework of what constitutes effective training was developed from Study 1 data, then tested and adapted using Study 2 data. Intervention components identified as effective by participants in both studies were defined and grouped to form a taxonomy of training intervention components. They were mapped onto 38 intervention descriptions to assess breadth of coverage. Results Three core concepts (interpersonal, intrapersonal and system factors) and five themes (social interaction, credibility, relevance, information processing, practicalities) that captured what participants perceived to underpin effective training were identified. These were organised into the Perceived Effectiveness of Training framework. A list of training components linked to each theme was developed from the data and a taxonomy of 171 defined training intervention components organized into three phases and grouped into clusters was developed. Conclusions This research identified key attributes that constitute effective training as perceived by a sample of healthcare professionals and experts in training/behaviour change. The framework can be used to design and deliver training that is optimised for effectiveness, or as a basis for training evaluation. The taxonomy can be used as a resource to identify effective training components and offers a common language to describe training interventions. Future research may be useful to further explore in what contexts these components are most effective.

First-Person Shooter Game Engines and Healthcare

First-person shooter (FPS) games have evolved from humble beginnings to what is currently considered the interactive entertainment genre most associated with state-of-the-art developments in gaming, particularly those of a technological and graphical nature. This chapter outlines and discusses past efforts, current usage of contemporary tools, and, finally, the significant suggested potential of first-person shooter gaming engines in the area of health, irrespective of whether these are targeted towards healthcare professional training, patient rehabilitation, or even raising awareness on key issues (to name but a few contemporary and/or suggested remits of the medium).