Public Health and Nursing

Primary health care professionals can find it difficult to participate in continuing education despite their need for up-to-date knowledge. Suitable models for addressing this problem are rare. This study aimed to evaluate a continuing educational model tailored for primary health care circumstances (ConPrim). The model considers the need for inter-professional education to facilitate teamwork; pedagogical theory and methods to achieve a deeper level of understanding; and content adapted to the circumstances of primary health care to help fill knowledge gaps and make attendance more attractive. ConPrim consists of three steps that build on each other: a web-based program, a practical exercise, and a case seminar. This study tested ConPrim by using it to develop and evaluate an intervention in the subject “Nutritional care of patients cared for at home.” District nurses/registered nurses and general practitioners/physicians (n=87) working with home care at 10 primary health care centers in Stockholm, Sweden, completed a post-intervention questionnaire about the model. The professionals found the design attractive and user-friendly and the pedagogical methods to promote inter-professional and interactive learning. They rated the time spent as acceptable for all parts except the practical exercise; found the design suitable to primary health care; and thought the intervention increased their knowledge about a subject they viewed as useful and relevant to their work. ConPrim seems well-suited for continuing inter-professional education in primary health care. Future studies could test the model in other subject areas where there is a gap between evidence-based knowledge and practice.