When staff training isn't enough: an evaluation of a collaborative approach

Area of Science:

• Healthcare Education
• Allied Health Professions
• Disability Studies

Background:

• Individuals with severe physical and learning disabilities often require extensive support for eating and drinking.
• Effective staff training is crucial for improving the quality of care and support provided to this population.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate a multidisciplinary training workshop for staff supporting individuals with severe physical and learning disabilities.
• To assess the impact of the training on staff satisfaction, knowledge, and practice during mealtimes.

Main Methods:

• A training workshop was developed with input from speech and language therapy, dietetics, occupational therapy, and physiotherapy.
• Evaluation included participant satisfaction surveys, knowledge assessments (immediate and 6-month follow-up), and video analysis of mealtimes pre- and post-training.

Main Results:

• Staff reported very positive perceptions of the training workshops.
• Highly significant increases in staff knowledge were observed immediately and at six months post-training (p < 0.001).
• No significant changes in staff practice during mealtimes were evidenced by video analysis.

Conclusions:

• The multidisciplinary training effectively enhanced staff knowledge and satisfaction.
• Translating acquired knowledge into sustained changes in practice remains a challenge.
• Further research and strategies are needed to bridge the gap between training and behavioral change in clinical practice.