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      The use of virtual communities of practice to improve interprofessional collaboration and education: findings from an integrated review

      1 , 1 , 2 , 1 ,   2
      Journal of Interprofessional Care
      Informa UK Limited

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          Abstract

          The recent growth in online technology has led to a rapid increase in the sharing of health related information globally. Health and social care professionals are now using a wide range of virtual communities of practice (VCoPs) for learning, support, continuing professional education, knowledge management and information sharing. In this article, we report the findings from a review of the literature that explored the use of VCoPs by health and social care professionals to determine their potential for interprofessional education and collaboration. We employed integrated review methods to search and identify relevant VCoP articles. We undertook searches of PubMed and Google Scholar from 2000, which after screening, resulted in the inclusion of 19 articles. A thematic analysis generated the following key issues related to the use of VCoPs: 'definitions and approaches', 'technological infrastructure', 'reported benefits', 'participation issues', 'trust and privacy and 'technical ability'. Based on the findings from this review, there is some evidence that VCoPs can offer an informal method of professional and interprofessional development for clinicians, and can decrease social and professional isolation. However, for VCoPs to be successful, issues of privacy, trust, encouragement and technology need to be addressed.

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          Interprofessional Teamwork for Health and Social Care

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            Interprofessional online learning for primary healthcare: findings from a scoping review

            Objectives This article presents the findings from a scoping review which explored the nature of interprofessional online learning in primary healthcare. The review was informed by the following questions: What is the nature of evidence on online postgraduate education for primary healthcare interprofessional teams? What learning approaches and study methods are used in this context? What is the range of reported outcomes for primary healthcare learners, their organisations and the care they deliver to patients/clients? Setting The review explored the global literature on interprofessional online learning in primary healthcare settings. Results The review found that the 23 included studies employed a range of different e-learning methods with contrasting course durations, use of theory, participant mix, approaches to accreditation and assessment of learning. Most of the included studies reported outcomes associated with learner reactions and positive changes in participant attitudes/perceptions and improvement in knowledge/skills as a result of engagement in an e-learning course. In contrast, fewer studies reported changes in participant behaviours, changes in organisational practice and improvements to patients/clients. Conclusions A number of educational, methodological and outcome implications are be offered. E-learning can enhance an education experience, support development, ease time constraints, overcome geographic limitations and can offer greater flexibility. However, it can also contribute to the isolation of learners and its benefits can be negated by technical problems.
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              Applying Social Network Analysis to Understand the Knowledge Sharing Behaviour of Practitioners in a Clinical Online Discussion Forum

              Background Knowledge Translation (KT) plays a vital role in the modern health care community, facilitating the incorporation of new evidence into practice. Web 2.0 tools provide a useful mechanism for establishing an online KT environment in which health practitioners share their practice-related knowledge and experiences with an online community of practice. We have implemented a Web 2.0 based KT environment—an online discussion forum—for pediatric pain practitioners across seven different hospitals in Thailand. The online discussion forum enabled the pediatric pain practitioners to share and translate their experiential knowledge to help improve the management of pediatric pain in hospitals. Objective The goal of this research is to investigate the knowledge sharing dynamics of a community of practice through an online discussion forum. We evaluated the communication patterns of the community members using statistical and social network analysis methods in order to better understand how the online community engages to share experiential knowledge. Methods Statistical analyses and visualizations provide a broad overview of the communication patterns within the discussion forum. Social network analysis provides the tools to delve deeper into the social network, identifying the most active members of the community, reporting the overall health of the social network, isolating the potential core members of the social network, and exploring the inter-group relationships that exist across institutions and professions. Results The statistical analyses revealed a network dominated by a single institution and a single profession, and found a varied relationship between reading and posting content to the discussion forum. The social network analysis discovered a healthy network with strong communication patterns, while identifying which users are at the center of the community in terms of facilitating communication. The group-level analysis suggests that there is strong interprofessional and interregional communication, but a dearth of non-nurse participants has been identified as a shortcoming. Conclusions The results of the analysis suggest that the discussion forum is active and healthy, and that, though few, the interprofessional and interinstitutional ties are strong.
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                Author and article information

                Journal
                Journal of Interprofessional Care
                Journal of Interprofessional Care
                Informa UK Limited
                1356-1820
                1469-9567
                November 21 2017
                March 04 2018
                November 21 2017
                March 04 2018
                : 32
                : 2
                : 136-142
                Affiliations
                [1 ] Research & Advocacy, iheed, Dublin, Ireland
                [2 ] Faculty of Health, Social Care & Education, Kingston University & St Georges University, London, UK
                Article
                10.1080/13561820.2017.1377692
                29161155
                c4bfdbda-14af-4cc9-9eb5-56ac0b8f33fc
                © 2018
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