Establishing proof of concept for a tablet-based staff training tool to help in the prevention and control of healthcare associated infections

Background and objective: Although educational programmes focusing on healthcare associated infections increasingly employ visual images, our literature review found that very few evaluate process and impact aspects of these visualisations. Furthermore none reported on substantive design and co-development processes involving end users interacting with dynamic visuals. The Vision On project (http://visionon.org ) sought to address this deficit by engaging a group of 150 healthcare staff in such processes to develop and evaluate a prototype tablet-based training tool. Method: A 3-stage iterative prototyping and co-development process involved doctors, nurses, cleaning staff and hospital staff in other job roles. Themes of pathogen location, survival and transmission were developed and visualised on the tablet for three pathogens – MRSA, C difficile and norovirus using contemporary research evidence. Context was provided through a virtual ward setting incorporating macro/micro scale views. Learning points and other relevant text-based information accompanied the visualisations. Data were acquired at each stage from staff completing workbooks which included Likert scaled questions and invitations to comment. Findings: Evaluations of the relevance, clarity, appropriateness and overall helpfulness of the final prototype were very positive, with negative ratings never exceeding 5% of total responses. Visualisations were engaging and supportive of different learning styles. They offered staff a new contextualised perspective on pathogens. Information proved relevant for different staff cohorts, with a mix of experience levels. Visualisations increased participants’ awareness about pathogens by explaining ‘why’ IPC procedures should be followed. Suggested further applications included: inductions for new starts, education in schools/universities, and refresher courses. Conclusions: This work has established proof of concept and a new prototype is being developed from the feedback, with the intention of trialling by IPC managers during in-ward use