The Development and Effectiveness of Combining Case-Based Online Lecture and Simulation Programs to Facilitate Interprofessional Function Care Training in Nursing Homes

The aim of this study was to (1) develop a case-based combination of online lectures and simulations for function-focused care by nursing home interdisciplinary caregivers and (2) evaluate participants' increasing shared team and task knowledge by surrogate measures of team process and team performance. The study comprised the following steps: (1) the design of a learning module using a shared understanding of function-focused care as a shared mental model; (2) the establishment of two computer programs for online lectures and simulations using cases involving older adults with disabilities; and (3) testing the educational programs using a repeated-measures design. Participants were 61 interdisciplinary caregivers from seven nursing homes in four regions. Data from participants' team process and team performance were collected pre test, post online lecture, and post simulation. Repeated-measures analysis of variance showed that the mean scores for scales of "transactive memory system," "knowledge sharing and utilization," "team outcomes," "motivation for learning transfer," "self-efficacy," "interpersonal understanding," "proactivity in problem solving," and "function-focused care knowledge" differed significantly between the time points. The results indicate that a case-based program of a combination of online lectures and simulations elicits significant improvements in participants' team process and team performance.