Empowering students to innovate health services: Teaching transferability of health interventions

Abstract

Abstract Background To improve the health of different populations, health systems need healthcare professionals who are able to innovate health services. In order to empower students from various healthcare professions to change health service practice in a sustainable way, a training was developed based on the PIET-T models of transferability (Schloemer & Schröder-Bäck, 2018). It was evaluated at three universities in Germany and the Netherlands. Objective The aims of the training were to enable students to: 1. Critically analyze existing evidence about successful and unsuccessful transfers of evidence-based interventions to specific “real-world” contexts (1 day), 2. Conduct an assessment of transferability with case studies using problem-based learning (1 day), 3. Practice implementation research in a healthcare organization (4 months, 4 hours/week). The training was evaluated through discussions, a written reflection and a questionnaire in order to understand students' learning experiences. Results Two bachelor programs for occupational, physical and speech therapists, and one master program for public health professionals took part from 09/2019 to 03/2020, including 66 students. Students valued the training as important, 73 % found it helpful for professional practice. They reflected various ideas how to use the PIET-T models for practice change. Although the implementation research process was perceived as high workload, students valued the experience of getting to know barriers and solutions in a practical setting. Conclusions The students of all programs value the practical relevance of teaching with profession-related specifications. Practical application of the PIET-T models opens up new approaches in teaching in order to educate knowledge on improvement of health services in different contexts. Key messages Empowering students to improve healthcare requires practical training. Training on transferability helps students develop skills for improvement of health services.