JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Social network sites (SNSs) are widely exploited in health education and communication by members of the public and patients. Nevertheless, there is an absence of evidence evaluating SNSs in connecting health professionals for professional purposes.

Objective:

This pilot trial was designed to evaluate the feasibility of an interventional trial aiming to investigate the effects of a continuous professional education programme utilising Facebook (FB) for dementia knowledge and care.

Methods:

This was a pilot randomised, unblinded, controlled trial with mixed methods. Eighty Hong Kong health professionals were recruited and randomised in a 1:1 ratio by block randomisation method to the IG (IG) (n=40) and control group (CG) (n=40). The intervention was an eight-week educational programme developed to deliver updated knowledge on dementia care from a multidisciplinary perspective, delivered either by FB (IG) or by email (CG) from October – January 2019. The primary outcomes were the effects of intervention, measured by the differences in the means of changes in scores in the pre- and post-intervention knowledge assessments consisting of the 25-item Dementia Knowledge Assessment Scale (DKAS) and formative evaluation of 20 multiple choice questions (MCQs). Other outcome measurements included participant compliance, participant engagement in FB, satisfaction, and self-perceived uses of FB for CPE programmes.

Results:

Significantly more IG participants (n=35) completed the study than the CG (n=25) (P < .001). The overall retention rate was 75% (n=60). The mean of changes in scores in the IG were significant in all assessments (P < .001). Between the two groups, a significant difference in the mean of changes in scores was identified in the DKAS subscale ‘Communication and behaviour’ (95% CI 0.4-3.3 P = .02). There was no significant difference in the total DKAS, other DKAS subscales, and MCQs. Participant compliance was significantly higher in the IG than in the CG (P <.001). The mean numbers of participants accessing a week were 31.5 (SD 3.9) and 17.6 (SD 5.2) in the IG and CG respectively. Polls attracted the highest level of participant engagement, followed by videos. IG participants scored significantly higher in favouring the use of FB for the CPE programme (P = .03). Overall, participants were satisfied with the interventions (mean 4.0 out of 5, SD 0.6).

Conclusions:

The significantly higher retention rate, together with the high levels of participant compliance and engagement, make FB a promising method for professional education. Education delivered through FB was significantly more effective at improving participants’ knowledge of how people with dementia communicate and behave. Participants demonstrated positive attitudes towards utilising FB for professional learning. The findings provide evidence for the feasibility of using FB for intervention delivery in a way that can be rolled out into practical settings.