Using a Virtual Environment to Deliver Evidence-Based Interventions: The Facilitator's Experience.

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Health Disparities
• Digital Health Interventions

Background:

• Evidence-based interventions (EBIs) offer significant community benefits but face implementation challenges due to formalized training requirements and associated costs.
• The ¡Cuídate! (Take Care of Yourself!) curriculum, a sexual risk reduction EBI for Latino youth, requires effective facilitator training to maximize its impact.
• The Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework was utilized to develop a virtual learning environment for adapting the ¡Cuídate! facilitator training.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the feasibility of adapting the ¡Cuídate! face-to-face facilitator training for a multi-user virtual environment (MUVE).
• To evaluate the acceptability of the virtual facilitator training.
• To measure facilitators' knowledge and self-efficacy in implementing the ¡Cuídate! curriculum after virtual training.

Main Methods:

• Thirty-five facilitators were trained using a virtual learning environment (Second Life).
• Facilitator experiences were evaluated using a modified Community of Inquiry (CoI) survey and an open-ended questionnaire.
• A comparative analysis with traditional face-to-face training was conducted.

Main Results:

• The virtual learning environment demonstrated strong social presence (M=23.11, SD=4.12), teaching presence (M=8.74, SD=1.01), and cognitive presence (M=16.69, SD=1.97).
• No significant differences were found between virtual and face-to-face training in responding to sensitive questions (P=.50) or cultural relevance (P=.32).
• Virtual training led to a significant increase in facilitators' knowledge of core curriculum elements (P<.001), with 74% reporting confidence in delivering the training.

Conclusions:

• The virtual learning environment was found to be acceptable and effective for training facilitators in the ¡Cuídate! curriculum.
• The MUVE supported the acquisition of necessary knowledge and skills for delivering the sexual risk reduction EBI.
• Virtual training offers a feasible and effective alternative for disseminating EBIs to community-based organizations.