The Interprofessional Care of Individuals with Multiple Chronic Conditions (IPCMCC) eLearning course is designed to enhance the competency of NP students to support patients in the self-management of their chronic conditions within interprofessional healthcare teams. This highly interactive, open-access course integrates the competencies of the Interprofessional Education Collaborative (IPEC) Expert Panel (2011) with the Chronic Care Model (Wagner, et al, 2001). As we developed this eLearning course, we applied strategies to promote learner engagement and authentic practice. We selected key course topics such as patient engagement in self-care, Motivational Interviewing and other coaching techniques, behavior change facilitation, identification of community and family resources, promoting self-efficacy, and interprofessional teamwork. The content was selected based on studies that identified the characteristics of effective management of multiple chronic conditions (Bodenheimer, & Berry-Millett, 2009; Bodenheimer, T., & Abramowitz, S., 2010; Institute for Healthcare Improvement, 2015; Parehkh, Goodman, Gordon, & Koh, 2011). Throughout the course, real-world examples and scenarios provide the context for learning and contain interactive and reflective exercises. The course concludes with an immersive, video-based practice experience in which learners make decisions, receive feedback and experience consequences as they follow an interdisciplinary team through a day in the life of a patient-centered medical home.
Learners completed pre- and- post evaluation surveys to measure satisfaction and perceived learning with the eLearning course. Responses were rated on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from poor (1) to excellent (5). The pre-and post-test results were as follows: applying the Chronic Care Model to clinical practice, t = -11.67, df = 98 ρ<.0001, coaching patients for self-management, t = -9.46, df = 98 ρ<.0001, interprofessional collaboration skills, t = -2.40, df = 98 ρ<.0001, indicating a significant difference in perceived knowledge between the pre-and post-test. The majority of the learners were satisfied or very satisfied with the modules. Qualitative findings indicate high level of satisfaction with the video scenarios. Results of our evaluation indicate that students found the Interprofessional Care of People with Multiple Chronic Conditions eLearning course to be engaging, informative and applicable to real world practice.
The IPCMCC eLearning Course is freely available for use by educators, students and providers world-wide through an open-access learning management system. We will demonstrate portions of the course and its complementary Instructor Guide for the benefit of faculty who may wish to access and adopt the course within their own curricula.