Abstract:

Introduction: The evolution of professional practices and the transformation of work environments in the health care sector require a better understanding of the political issues at stake. To facilitate the learning of political skills among nursing and community health students, a specific tool has been integrated in various ways at the undergraduate and graduate levels in several universities in the Province of Québec, Canada. This tool enables the student to analyze the political environment of any health care related intervention in a systematic way and then plan on the political aspect of this intervention. It comprises thirteen steps organized in the following three phases: 1) Choosing a topic of intervention (3 steps); 2) Analyzing the political environment of the intervention (5 steps); 3) Planning and implementing the appropriate political strategies and tactics required (5 steps). A web interface has been developed to accomplish the five steps of the second phase. Objectives of this communication: 1) To describe how the tool has been used to pursue various learning objectives in the six courses in which it was integrated. 2) To identify the different pedagogical benefits of this tool when used with or without the web interface. Proposed approach: A description of the tool development process and of the tool itself, including the web interface, will first be presented. Then, the teaching situations where it has been used over the last eight years will be described and the possibilities and constraints of using the web interface will be discussed. Expected outcomes: The presentation will show that this tool allows the pursuit of a variety of pedagogical objectives at different levels. The user-friendliness of the web interface greatly facilitates the execution of the political analysis and fosters the understanding of the power dynamics involved in any health care related intervention or program. Conclusion: With a simple, accessible, and structured approach to political analysis and intervention, this tool can be adapted to different learning contexts in order to address the political aspects in a wide diversity of challenges related to health care issues. Using the web interface allows the creation of multiple scenarios to figure out the best way to carry out the intervention, contributing at the same time to the development of the learner's political skills.

Keywords:

Web interface, political skills, innovative tool, teaching situations, nursing, community health.