Abstract:

Technology is the enabler in environments where human-computer interaction is a mean to an end. For instance, in health settings, health technology aims at increasing patient safety and quality of healthcare delivered by health professionals to patients; technology in education supports learning outcomes and serves as pedagogical instrument for teachers to address students’ needs. The interaction between these two specific contexts where technology is central opens to potential benefits to the stakeholders involved: technology that is used in health settings can be integrated into the learning and teaching process of the future generation of health professionals. This paper presents how electronic clinical procedure libraries (ECPL) can be used in a higher education setting to enhance health education and prepare students for their real-life work environment.

ECPLs are used in healthcare settings for various purposes, to ensure quality in clinical procedures (routinely performed or unpracticed), support medical staff in their daily work and as lifelong learning. On the one hand, workspace technologies can be taught as a subject to instruct how to use a technology in a specific situation. On the other hand, a problem-based learning approach can be used in a student-centred learning context to teach technology usage in a real-life setting. An approach applicable for the latter is a problem-based approach, where students face a problem that may be solved using an ECPL. For instance, a problem is introduced in a simulation of a real-life situation using real props including role-playing elements, such as roles played by students. This approach opens to complementary pedagogical approaches such as gamified version of the key elements of the simulation scenario. These and other aspects of the integration of technology for health practice into education are being researched in an international setting targeting the Norwegian and Japanese educational and practice approaches to healthcare. The research includes a literature review of the specific technologies, designs and usages in health settings and qualitative semi-structured interviews with participants from both countries to analyze integration and quality outcomes.

The goal of this research is to improve healthcare quality. One of the aspects that is generally not analyzed is the transferability of healthcare professionals to different work places since there are reported differences among healthcare organizations (e.g., universities, hospitals and other public and private institutions) which may adapt the existing guidelines to their own administrative, medical and clinical workflows, routines and procedures. Two factors are then included in the research: the accessibility of the information and the introduction of such technologies early in the education. Technology may support wide accessibility by means of language and medical ontologies and databases that can be accessed and translated into multiple languages. At the same time, an appropriate implementation and introduction of these technologies (e.g. ECPLs) in health education curricula and pedagogical strategies may support the healthcare professionals continuously from their training and during their working life.

Keywords:

Human-centred Design, eHealth, Healthcare Education, ECPL.