Moving and handling education in the community: technological innovations to improve practice

Efforts to reduce injuries associated with patient handling are often based on tradition and personal experience rather than sound educational theory. The purpose of this article is to summarize current evidence for educational interventions designed to reduce primary care staff injuries: a significant problem for decades. Evidence suggests that the current 'classroom' teaching of moving and handling is ineffective. There is a growing body of evidence to support newer interventions that are effective or show promise in reducing musculoskeletal injuries in health professionals (Freitag et al, 2007). The authors discuss potential solutions through moving and handling-related motion capture simulation and the use of e-learning to promote an understanding of the principles associated with patient handling tasks.