Workshop Topic: VP

A critical focus in helping older adults age safely is staff education aimed at reducing responsive behaviours. As an international leader in memory and aging, Baycrest endeavoured to create a unique solution to this challenge utilizing 3 key elements: On-line environment, team-based education, and the usage of virtual patient simulation.

It is well documented, most significantly by Mihaela Botezatu, that virtual patient simulation for both learning and assessment has superior results and “ultimately provides a transferable skill.” To afford our teams the opportunity to effectively practice their newly learned skills for recognizing and responding to Responsive Behaviours, we created authentic SIM scenarios in consultation with clinicians who manage responsive behaviours daily. These were modelled after the popular “choose your own adventure” books.

An online, robust platform that could support social interactions, collaboration, and connections in the learning process to effectively cultivate both a constructivist and connectivist approach was required. The Moodle based Dual Code Learning Management System (LMS) was chosen.

Each scenario affords health care providers, including both regulated and unregulated staff on teams the opportunity to safely interact with a virtual patient. The purpose is to practice utilizing the a “3R’s” framework, which encourages them to approach the management of responsive behaviours with Recognize, Reflect and Respond. They are then afforded the opportunity to reflect and debrief for deeper understanding.

During this workshop, participants will be immersed in the journey to create this team-based approach. We will take a sight-seeing trip through Moodle to discover the various activities it can afford to promote interactivity. Participants will then work together as a team to successfully navigate the virtual patient simulations. Finally we will debrief and discuss
the affordances of the on-line environment, team-based education, and the usage of virtual patient simulation.

At the end of this session participants will be able to:
• describe the benefits of choosing an online delivery method
• identify the various eLearning methods employed to foster an interprofessional team-based approach
• experiment with trialling the virtual patient simulation as interprofessional teams
• explain the significance of learning to mitigate responsive behaviours in a team-based approach