Evaluation of a sexually transmissible infections education program: Lessons for general practice learning

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Infectious Disease Management
• General Practice Education

Background:

• The New South Wales (NSW) Sexually Transmissible Infections Program Unit (STIPU) developed nine resources.
• These resources aim to support the diagnosis and management of sexually transmissible infections (STIs) within general practice settings.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore the development processes of STIPU's clinical resources.
• To evaluate the outcomes achieved from the dissemination and use of these resources.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of project documents related to resource creation.
• Focus group interviews with the STIPU Working Group for development and dissemination evaluation.
• Interviews with general practitioners (GPs) and practice nurses (PNs) for outcomes evaluation, supplemented by prior survey data.

Main Results:

• STIPU employed a rigorous, multimodal strategy to create evidence-based clinical resources.
• Information about resources was often received opportunistically by GPs and PNs, rather than through proactive searches.
• GPs demonstrated lower awareness of available online resources.

Conclusions:

• Enhancing the translation of clinical guidelines into practice requires improved promotion of online resources.
• Integration with general practice software and stronger engagement with general practice organizations are recommended.
• Developing the role of practice nurses (PNs) can further improve STI management support.