Virtual Patients - An Interactive Educational Module for Higher Education

Swedish Title: Virtuella Patienter - en Interaktiv Utbildningsmodul Inom Universitet Och högskola. In English: Virtual Patients - An Interactive Educational Module in Universities and Colleges.

Popular Science Summary (for the whole project)

In modern healthcare, several challenges exist: short patient visits, highly specialized care, and limited opportunities for education and professional development among healthcare staff. In theoretical training efforts, it can be difficult to highlight and provide opportunities to practice complex patient interactions. The overall goal of this project is to evaluate the effects of an interactive educational module that includes training with virtual patients (VP). Single training sessions rarely lead to behavioral changes in clinical practice, but concrete training with a clear connection to clinical tasks can have a better effect.

In this research project, VPs will be part of an educational module at universities and colleges, where the overarching goal is for students to practice clinically relevant communication areas. Two main areas have been selected for the VP in this project: intimate partner violence and suicide risk assessment. Both of these areas are of great significance to public health and have direct relevance to clinical care, especially in psychiatry. Specific objectives of the project include exploring the user experience of the VP, examining whether the VP contributes to increased knowledge and confidence in asking questions within the chosen focus area, studying students' experiences of using the VP, how it has influenced their work with patients after graduation, and finally, examining user patterns on the VP platform.

Previous research suggests that virtual patient cases can have positive effects on learning and engagement and may even be more effective than traditional education in improving clinical decision-making and critical thinking skills. VPs have been studied in various medical specialties, but there is a lack of knowledge specifically in psychiatry. In this project, researchers will evaluate the use of VPs in psychiatric training within medical, nursing, and psychology programs.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Psychiatric Problem; Violence; Psychiatric Issue
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Virtual Patient

Detailed Description

Overall purpose (for the whole project):

To investigate virtual patient cases (VP) as an interactive educational module for students in universities and colleges. The educational module will consist of three parts: a theoretical and preparatory lecture, training with VP, and a follow-up seminar. The aim is to evaluate how well this module prepares students to ask clinically relevant questions in focus areas such as intimate partner violence and suicide risk assessment. The target group for the project is students in nursing, medical, and psychology programs at various universities and colleges in Sweden.

Specific aims for this study:

To investigate whether VP contributes to an increased level of knowledge and confidence in asking questions within the selected focus areas among students in nursing, medical, and psychology programs.

Focus areas for VP:

Intimate partner violence

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 56
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Sweden
  • Stockholm, Sweden
    • Centre for Psychatry Research, Karolinska Institutet

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

* Students in Nursing Program

Exclusion Criteria:

* None, except if the student does not want to participate

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Other
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Intervention; Virtuel Patient	Other: Virtual Patient; Interactive Educational Activity
No Intervention: Control; No Virtuel Patient

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
General Self-Efficacy Scale	This scale is a self-report measure of self-efficacy. Likert scale 1-4: 1=Not at all true, 2=Hardly true, 3=Moderately true, 4=Exactly true.	Up to two months
General Self-Efficacy - Visual Analog Scale	Measuring self-efficacy. Scale 1-10: 1=Low, 10=High.	Up to two months
Level of Knowledge - Test	Measuring level of knowledge. 15 multiple-choice question about inpartner violence.	Up to two months
Level of Knowledge - Visual Analog Scale	Measuring level of knowledge, Scale 1-10: 1=Low, 10=High.	Up to two months

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Karolinska Institutet

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): August 26, 2024
• Primary Completion (Actual): September 9, 2024
• Study Completion (Actual): September 10, 2024

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: October 28, 2024
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: November 25, 2024
• First Posted (Estimated): November 26, 2024

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Estimated): November 26, 2024
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: November 25, 2024
• Last Verified: November 1, 2024

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: education; virtual patient
• Other Study ID Numbers: 2023-06687-01

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No