Care Opinion in health professional education: Bristol workshop

A year ago, rather cautiously, we ran #poEducate, a workshop in Birmingham, to find out what people think of using Patient Opinion (now Care Opinion) in health professional training and education.

The enthusiasm and energy for this idea took us by surprise. So in 2017 we planned two further workshops. We've just held the first of these in Bristol. The second will be at the University of Stirling on 14 September.

So what happened in Bristol? We heard inspiring, thoughtful and above all practical presentations on using Care Opinion at three universities: Plymouth, Salford and Birmingham City. (All the slides are linked below.)

And it was clear from everyone that the stories of care people share online create an extraordinary resource for learners at all levels. For pre-registration students, stories create a new route to seeing care through the eyes of patients and carers. For masters level students, Care Opinion is a ready-made resource for a wide range of research projects. And for continuing professional development, a real-time stream of relevant experiences can stimulate reflection across issues such as quality improvement, leadership, communication and patient safety.

What's new for learners?

I started us off with an intro to Care Opinion, plus an update on some of the new features we've been adding that learners can benefit from: visualisations, digests, new search options, tagging and Talking Mats.

My slides

Plymouth University

The team from Plymouth University shared how they had used Care Opinion at all levels, from undergraduate nursing to intercalated urgent care and postgraduate research in mental health.

Prof Ray Jones at Plymouth has just published a paper on using Care Opinion in the nursing curriculum, while Rebecca Baines presented innovative research on what users of mental health services want to see in a staff response on Care Opinion (see slides). Kim Young shared how online feedback is used in the nursing curriculum, and Pam Nelmes talked about using Care Opinion in urgent and emergency care education.

Plymouth Uni slides

Salford University

Leslie Robinson, director of postgraduate research in the school of health sciences at the University of Salford presented detailed plans on using Care Opinion across a range of courses and at different levels. She distinguished two kinds of activity for learners: "exploring the case" (reflecting on and discussing a single story) and "exploring the space" (thinking about social media, and online feedback, as a new form of communication, a kind of intervention, a place of new possibilities for learning and change).

Next year, we're hoping that Leslie will share how her plans have unfolded and what impacts, if any, have resulted.

Use @careopinion to explore the case, and explore the space, says @LeslieRob10#coEducatepic.twitter.com/NIUWdeBVuR

— James Munro (@jamesfm55) 18 July 2017

Salford Uni slides

Birmingham City University

Rachael Hosznyak, programme lead for paramedic science at Birmingham City University, gave an inspiring talk on using Care Opinion in paramedic training.

Just as classroom settings with simulated patients provide a "safe space" for learning clinical skills, Rachael argued that the stories on Care Opinion also provide a valuable safe space for students to reflect on and learn from people's experiences of care.

Fascinating listening to @HosznyakRachael sharing the @parabcu journey & the contribution of @careopinion - for @bcukevcrimmons#coEducatepic.twitter.com/6YUiLwiKtN

— Pam Nelmes (@Pam007Nelmes) 18 July 2017

Birmingham City Uni slides

Summing up

I thought I'd end this post with a contribution from someone who wasn't actually at the workshop, but whose reaction to discovering Care Opinion has given me great encouragement.

Michelle Cullen, lecturer in podiatry at Salford, wrote:

"I have always avoided social media. I don't use Facebook, I don't tweet, to be honest I could only see the trouble social media caused... until Leslie introduced me to the Care Opinion website. I think it is brilliant. By using this site in our teaching, we can show students how to use social media in a positive, proactive way, to engage with our patients. I can honestly say that your website has helped us breathe new life into our teaching."

 

And if this encourages you too, do get in touch!