Purpose: The Interprofessional Psychosocial Oncology Distance Education (IPODE) project was designed as an innovative solution to the problems of feasibility and accessibility in psychosocial oncology (PSO) education, at the graduate level and in continuing education. Three web-based courses (13 weeks) and one independent study resource have been developed, with attention to translating clinical practice guidelines and other standards. In this paper we report the evaluation findings from the first 3 years of the project for one IPODE course, “Interprofessional Psychosocial Oncology: Introduction to Theory and Practice”. 

Method: The project evaluation consists of a pre/post survey (T1 & T2) and a 3-month post course survey (T3). The surveys assessed satisfaction with the course and self-reported attitudes, knowledge and skill in psychosocial oncology and interprofessional collaboration. Narrative questions ask about planned changes in practice at T2 (as a proxy changes in practice), with a follow-up at T3 to assess actual changes made. Here we report the T1-T2 results.

Findings: Satisfaction with the course, the web-site and with faculty were consistently very high. Challenges with technology were the one significant area of difficulty for about 5-10% of learners. Matched pairs pre-post surveys were analysed and statistically significant changes in attitudes, knowledge and skill were identified.

Conclusion: Web-based learning in a pan-Canadian and cross-university collaboration is a viable alternative to providing specialty education to university students and to practicing health professionals.  While the use of technology for learning can be challenging, particularly to practicing health professionals who may not have taken formal courses in a long time, the advantages of learning in an interprofessional environment were significant.  An interpretive pedagogy which privileged first person narratives and reflective practice was an important element in expanding knowledge and shifting attitudes about the lived experience of cancer, thereby contributing to greater capacity for evidence-informed person-centered care.   

This abstract is planned as part of the symposium entitled, "Translating Training in to Practice: Examining the Process From Training to Implementation"