Abstract:

Introduction:
Reading books has frequently been related to the field of the humanities, but its use in the Health Sciences could also have a place. In general, the subjects in these disciplines focus on the description of diagnoses and treatment techniques and become excessively specific, leaving other important transversal topics and skills, that can play a relevant role in the professional development of students, out of the educational process. The proposal of transversal readings of content not directly related to the physiotherapy profession could be an interesting way to promote active learning and develop transversal skills such as communication with patients. The main objective of this study was to analyse if reading transversal books proposed by renowned physiotherapists increases perceived learning in content and skills of interest for the profession. Secondary objectives were to analyse if this kind of initiative promotes reading and if it is perceived as satisfactory for students in the University Degree in Physiotherapy.

Methodology:
One hundred seven students of the Degree in Physiotherapy of the University of Valencia participated in the study. In the subject "Clinical Specialties II", four renowned physiotherapists were contacted to recommend a book associated with transversal content not directly related to physiotherapy through videos that were uploaded to an Instagram profile created exclusively for this initiative. Additionally, the lecturer asked the students to make a short video sharing their impressions about the chosen reading, and a debate was created to share the experience with classmates. To assess this active learning strategy's effectiveness, the students evaluated, through a 7-point scale, their agreement with the statement that the activity had a positive influence on learning about communication with patients and about the management of cancer patients, being 1 "absolutely disagree" and 7 "absolutely agree". To evaluate the satisfaction of the students with the methodology employed and the interest in reading aroused by it, a 7-point scale was also used.

Results:
In general, the students considered using the Instagram platform to upload the task (4.41±1.99) interesting. The recommendations promoted the reading of books (4.93±1.55) and the students considered this type of initiative interesting (5.64±1.48). Significant differences were found in the perceived interest in reading the books” (p=0.026) and in the perceived interest of the initiative (p=0.02) depending on the selected book. The students perceived that the activity had a positive impact on learning about communication with patients (5.76±1.35) and on the management of cancer patients (5.02±1.47). They also considered that making a group video allowed them to reflect more on reading (5.30±1.68).

Conclusions:
The use of transversal readings recommended by renowned physiotherapists was an attractive initiative for undergraduate Physiotherapy students. According to the results of the study, these readings had a positive effect on the learning of content and skills of interest for the professional development of these students. This positive effect could be influenced by the use of an active learning strategy, the integration of the activity in the social media environment, or the power of renowned professional figures to motivate students. Due to its transversal nature, this type of initiative could be transferred to other disciplines.

Keywords:

Active learning, education, innovation, reading.