Motivational Framing Strategies in Health Care Information Security Training: Randomized Controlled Trial

Area of Science:

• Information Security
• Healthcare Informatics
• Cybersecurity Training

Background:

• Hospitals are frequent targets of cyberattacks due to valuable medical data.
• Healthcare professionals require tailored Security Education, Training, and Awareness (SETA) programs.
• Existing SETA programs often lack customization for healthcare workflows and professional values.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the effectiveness of video-based security training for healthcare professionals.
• To investigate the impact of dual-motive (self- vs. other-oriented) framing on security skill acquisition.
• To determine if appealing to professional values enhances training outcomes in a hospital setting.

Main Methods:

• A randomized controlled trial involving 130 healthcare professionals across 3 German university hospitals.
• Intervention groups received security training with either self-oriented or other-oriented motivational framing.
• A control group received the same training without framing; skill assessments were conducted pre- and post-training.

Main Results:

• The other-oriented framing (patient data protection) led to the greatest increase in security skills.
• Self-oriented framing (personal data protection) showed no significant improvement over the control group.
• Exploratory analysis indicated other-oriented framing was more effective for those with frequent patient contact.

Conclusions:

• Aligning SETA programs with professional values and specific contexts is crucial for effectiveness.
• Motivational framing emphasizing patient safety responsibility significantly enhances security skills in healthcare.
• Findings provide a theoretical and practical basis for implementing effective motivational framing in healthcare SETA programs.