Accepted for/Published in: Journal of Medical Internet Research
Date Submitted: May 31, 2018
Open Peer Review Period: May 31, 2018 - Jul 26, 2018
Date Accepted: Nov 25, 2018
(closed for review but you can still tweet)
The impact of an online course on mental health care professionals’ self-efficacy, self-esteem and team climate: a quasi-experimental study
ABSTRACT
Background:
Continuing education has an important role in supporting competence of health care professionals. Although online education is a growing business in various health sectors, few studies have been conducted in psychiatric settings to show its suitability in demanding work environments.
Objective:
We aim to describe the impact of an online educational course to increase self-efficacy, self-esteem and team climate of health care professionals. Possible advantages and disadvantages of the online course are also described.
Methods:
The study used non-randomized, pre-post intervention design in one psychiatric hospital (three wards). Health care professionals (n = 33) were recruited. Self-efficacy, self-esteem and team climate were measured at three assessment points (baseline, eight weeks and six months). Possible advantages and disadvantages were gathered with open-ended questions at the end of the course.
Results:
Our results of this non-randomized, pre-post intervention study showed that health care professionals (n = 33) had higher self-efficacy after the course, and the difference was statistically significant (Mean 30.16, SD 3.31 vs. Mean 31.77, SD 3.35, p = 0.02). On the other hand, no differences were found in the self-esteem or team climate of the health care professionals between before and after the course. Health care professionals found the online course useful in supporting their work and relationships with patients. The tight schedule of the online course and challenges in recruiting patients to use the patient education program with health care professionals were found to be disadvantages.
Conclusions:
Online education may be a usable tool to improve the self-efficacy of health care professionals’ even in demanding work environments such as psychiatric hospitals. However, more studies with robust and sufficiently powered data are still needed.
Citation
Per the author's request the PDF is not available.
Copyright
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