Health Professional Programs Research Articles

P-986. Integration of the National HIV Curriculum (NHC) into health professions programs: faculty and student/trainee reflections and perspectives

Abstract Background Targeted Access Knowledge and Education on HIV for Health Professions Programs (TAKE on HIV for Health Professions Programs) is a Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) funded effort to support National HIV Curriculum (NHC) integration into health professions programs (HPPs) to cultivate HIV prevention and care knowledge into student/trainee (learners) practice and build the HIV workforce. We report on faculty and learners perspectives within integrating HPPs. Methods Using mixed methodology, faculty and learners were asked about their NHC integration experience which was facilitated by the TAKE on HIV training and technical assistance (TTA) Team. Following an integration cycle, faculty participated in 1:1 structured interviews and a focus group to identify facilitators/challenges of integration and sustainment plans. Learners completed a digital survey about time to complete NHC lessons and ratings of HIV knowledge, confidence, and usability of the NHC platform (Likert scale: 1- strongly disagree to 5=strongly agree). Data were analyzed using rapid qualitative analyses, descriptive statistics and mean Likert scores. Results Nine participating faculty were from the following HPP disciplines: 3 from Pharmacy, 1 each from Physician Assistant and Family Medicine Residency, and 4 from Nursing. Integration facilitators included TTA support and guidance and NHC student tracking capability. A barrier was learner difficulty with navigating the platform and suggestion for improvement was providing additional visual learner resources for platform navigation. All faculty reported desire to sustain NHC integration with subsequent cohorts and additional NHC lessons. 46 learners completed the survey (13% response rate). 67% reported taking 15-30 minutes to complete an NHC lesson. Overall learners reported having improved HIV knowledge (mean=4.42), confidence in providing HIV care (mean=4.07), and ease of NHC platform navigation (mean=4.29). Conclusion NHC integration into HPPs is sustainable if sufficient resources are provided to faculty. TAKE on HIV effectively provides HPP faculty with free TTA resources to facilitate NHC integration and a framework for replicability. HIV knowledge gain amongst learners within integrating HPPs was demonstrated. Disclosures All Authors: No reported disclosures

P-987. Outcomes of a Program to Integrate the National HIV Curriculum into Health Profession Programs

Abstract Background The HIV epidemic is ongoing, but the HIV-specific workforce is decreasing. Targeted Access Knowledge and Education on HIV for Health Professions Programs (TAKE on HIV for Health Professions Programs) focuses on the integration of the National HIV Curriculum (NHC) into health professions programs (HPPs) to encourage health professional students/trainees (learners) to enter the HIV workforce and incorporate HIV prevention and care into their practice. This study details integration outcomes. Methods The NHC consists of six modules: Screening and Diagnosis, Basic HIV Primary Care, Antiretroviral Therapy, Co-Occurring Conditions, Prevention of HIV, and Key Populations. The number and types of HPPs integrating the NHC were assessed along with the number of learners using the NHC. Students were stratified into Learning Groups (LGs) based on their HPP discipline to track NHC module use and capture knowledge scores. Post integration cycle, a survey assessed learners’ intent to apply the knowledge gained from the NHC into their career (Likert scale: 1-not at all to 5-a great deal). Faculty indicated their intent to continue NHC integration from very unlikely to very likely (5-point Likert scale). Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Results From September 2023 to April 2024, 15 unique student LGs with 591 learners were integrating the NHC overseen by 14 faculty members at 12 HPPs. Learner NHC enrollment by discipline was as follows: 353 Pharmacy students, 72 Physician Assistant students, 50 Nursing students, 103 Medical Residents, and 13 Occupational Therapy students. The Co-Occurring Conditions NHC module was used the most (1,689 lessons completed) whereas the Key Populations module was used the least (342 lessons completed). Overall mean NHC module scores ranged from 88% to 95% with the Antiretroviral Therapy module and Key Populations module scoring highest and lowest, respectively. Mean student score for intent to apply NHC knowledge = 3.80 (N=175). All integrating faculty indicated they were "very likely" to implement the NHC in future courses. Conclusion TAKE on HIV program outcomes indicate successful facilitation of NHC integration into HPPs. The NHC is an effective online mechanism to educate health professional learners and to bolster the HIV workforce pipeline. Disclosures All Authors: No reported disclosures

Applications of Artificial Intelligence for Non-Psychomotor Skills Training in Health Professions Education: A Scoping Review.

This study explores uses of artificial intelligence (AI) in health professions education for non-psychomotor skills training at undergraduate, postgraduate, and continuing health professions education levels for education program development, delivery, and evaluation. This scoping review was conducted in 5 stages: (1) planning and research, (2) search strategy, (3) screening and selection, (4) review and recording data, and (5) synthesis. Seven bibliographic databases were searched using the main search terms artificial intelligence and continuing health professional education for articles that used AI for the purposes of non-psychomotor skills training for health professions education and involved health care professionals and/or trainees. Databases were searched for articles published from January 1, 2001, to March 26, 2024. The original searches were performed on July 26, 2021, and again on March 26, 2024. Two reviewers independently screened, reviewed, and extracted data. Data extraction was performed using Kern's 6-step curriculum development framework to guide analysis. In total, 9,914 studies related to AI in health professions education for non-psychomotor skills training were screened. Of these, 103 studies were identified that met inclusion criteria. Of these 103 studies, 52 (50%) were cohort studies. The most common learner population was health care professional students (67 studies [65%]). Most studies (76 [74%]) were set in nonclinical settings. Sixty-eight studies (66%) fit under step 6 of Kern's criteria (evaluation and assessment), illustrating that AI is predominantly being used for the purposes of evaluation and assessment of learners and programs. Most studies in the literature illustrate that AI is being applied in a non-psychomotor context to evaluate health professional education programs and assess learners. Additional opportunities to use AI in curriculum design and implementation could include identification of learning needs for training, personalizing learning with AI principles, and evaluating health care professional education programs.

Patient Complexity, Social Factors, and Hospitalization Outcomes at Academic and Community Hospitals

There have been limited evaluations of the patients treated at academic and community hospitals. Understanding differences between academic and community hospitals has relevance for the design of clinical models of care, remuneration for clinical services, and health professional training programs. To evaluate differences in complexity and clinical outcomes between patients admitted to general medical wards at academic and community hospitals. This retrospective cohort study of patients admitted to general medicine at 28 hospitals in Ontario, Canada, was conducted between April 2015 and December 2021. All patients admitted to or discharged from general medicine during the study period who were older than 18 years were included. Data analysis occurred between February 2023 and June 2024. Patient admission to a general medicine inpatient service at an academic or community hospital. Demographic and clinical characteristics (age, sex, modified Laboratory-based Acute Physiology Score [mLAPS], discharge diagnosis, Charlson Comorbidity Index, frailty risk score, and disability), social factors (neighborhood-level markers of income, material deprivation, immigrant status, and racial and ethnic minority status) and clinical outcomes and processes (patient volume per physician, in-hospital mortality, length of stay, readmission rates, and intensive care unit [ICU] admission rates). There were 947 070 admissions, including 609 696 at 17 community hospitals (median [IQR] age, 73 [58-84] years) and 337 374 at 11 academic hospitals (median [IQR] age, 70 [56-82] years). Baseline clinical characteristics were similar at community and academic hospitals, including female sex (307 381 [50.4%] vs 168 033 [49.8%]; standardized mean difference [SMD] = 0.012), median (IQR) mLAPS (21 [11-36] vs 21 [10-34]; SMD = 0.001), and Charlson Comorbidity Index score of 2 or greater (182 171 [29.9%] vs 105 502 [31.3%]; SMD = 0.038). Social characteristics, including income, education, and neighborhood proportion of racial and ethnic minority and immigrant residents were also similar. The number of unique discharge diagnoses was similar at academic and community hospitals. Patient volumes per attending physician were higher at academic hospitals (median [IQR] daily census, 20 [19-22] vs 17 [15-19]; SMD = 1.086). After multivariable regression adjusting for baseline factors, mortality (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 0.96; 95% CI, 0.78 to 1.17), ICU admission rate (aOR, 1.20; 95% CI, 0.80 to 1.79) and length of stay (β = -0.001; 95% CI, -0.10 to 0.10) were not significantly different, while 7-day readmission (aOR, 1.25; 95% CI, 1.10 to 1.43) and 30-day readmission (aOR, 1.25; 95% CI, 1.10 to 1.42) were significantly higher at academic hospitals than community hospitals. In this cohort study, patients admitted to general medicine at academic and community hospitals had similar baseline clinical characteristics and generally similar clinical outcomes, with greater readmission rates in academic hospitals. These findings suggest that the patient case mix in general internal medicine that trainees would be exposed to during their residency training at academic hospitals is largely representative of the case mix they would encounter at community hospitals, and has important implications for health services planning and funding.

A Practical Guide to Grade Adjustment or Curving for Pharmacy and Other Professional Health Programs.

The peer-reviewed literature on the adjustment or curving of assessments in health profession programs is almost non-existent. This communication aims to present potential methods of grade adjustment for individual questions or entire assessments. Simulated data for a 25-item assessment were used as an example to analyze the effects of different methods of grade adjustment on students' scores. Grade adjustments were made by adjusting the points for individual questions or the scores for the entire assessment. Adjustment for the individual questions was carried out by dropping the question, adding points to those who missed the question, or adding a bonus point to all students. Grade adjustment methods for the entire assessment included adjusting the mean or mean plus distribution (i.e., standard deviation) of the assessment score. Different methods of grade adjustments or curving for individual questions or the entire assessment resulted in drastically different outcomes for individual students' scores. The justifications for selecting the appropriate method for adjustment of the individual scores are presented based on item analysis statistics. Curving or adjusting the score for the entire exam may be justified when there is a need for consistency in grade distribution among the assessments across the years or different sections of the course. Although methods for adjustment of grades are relatively easy to implement, instructors should have reasonable educational justification for deciding whether to adjust grades or which method to use.

Facilitator development for pre-registration health professions simulation: a scoping review protocol

Introduction: The growing demand for health professional education intensifies the need for learning innovations such as simulation: facilitating predictable, realistic, experiential learning that prepares students for practice. To achieve this, facilitators must provide pedagogically sound, psychologically safe simulation. High-quality simulation enhances students’ self-efficacy, critical thinking, and clinical reasoning. Despite increasing integration of simulation into curricula, best practices for facilitator development remain unknown, risking the quality and safety of simulations. Objective: This scoping review will identify the extent and type of evidence guiding the development of simulation facilitators in pre-registration health professional programs for any type and stage of simulation. Inclusion criteria: This review will consider reports on simulation facilitator development for educators of pre-registration health professional students in academic settings. The simulation may be delivered using any delivery modality and any language. Reports focused on simulation facilitators working in professional settings, within graduate programs, or with already licensed learners will be excluded. Methods: The review will follow the JBI methodology for scoping reviews. The databases to be searched will include CINAHL (EBSCOhost), Embase, ERIC (EBSCOhost), MEDLINE (Ovid), and ProQuest Dissertation and Theses, from 2005 to the present. Titles and abstracts, followed by full-text articles, will be screened by 2 independent reviewers using Covidence. Data will be extracted using a pre-defined extraction form and content analysis will be conducted. Extracted data will be presented using tables, charts, and a narrative summary. Review registration: Details of this review project can be found in Open Science Framework: https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/WF9ZC

Social Justice and Health Equity in the Teaching and Learning Environment: Perspectives of Academic Leaders in Health Profession Education Programmes

It is the responsibility of all health profession education programmes to prepare their graduates to champion social justice and health equity (SJ/HE) within and beyond the healthcare system. However, little is known about the perspectives of educational leaders within health professional programmes regarding the teaching and learning environment (TLE) with respect to SJ/HE. The objective of this study was to explore the perspectives of health profession education leaders about their individual and collective vision for a TLE that promotes SJ/HE and its actualization. A qualitative descriptive approach was utilized to gather, synthesize and make meaning of the perspectives of academic leaders in one Canadian health professional faculty. Using semi-structured interviews, participants (n=14) representing five different colleges including medicine, nursing, oral health, pharmacy, and rehabilitation sciences, were interviewed in-person in the academic setting. Following inductive thematic analysis, one overarching theme resulted, “We Need to Walk the Talk.” Five sub-themes also emerged, including understanding of SJ/HE; the current TLE; facilitators and barriers to a TLE promoting SJ/HE; and actions required to further develop a TLE promoting SJ/HE. Academic leaders expressed hope and willingness to create a TLE that promotes SJ/HE, acknowledging that there was a lot to be done and a unified vision for the faculty is important. The results of this study underscore the need for academic leaders to have a clear and unified articulation of a TLE that embodies SJ/HE for all.

A Qualitative Analysis of Student Perspectives of Their Post-secondary Nutrition and Dietetics Program, Courses, and Instructors: Applying a Critical Pedagogies Perspective

Postsecondary dietetics education is in a time of transition in Canada and specifically in Manitoba. We sought to qualitatively investigate this cohort’s perspectives on the University of Manitoba’s dietetics program. In 2020/21, interviews were conducted with undergraduate dietetics students as well as dietetics interns and graduate students who had recently completed the undergraduate dietetics program. We recruited 25 participants, all of whom self-identified as female, with 60% identifying as white, with an average age of 25 years old. Informed by critical pedagogy, our analysis yielded four themes: motivations for studying dietetics; learning outside the classroom; development of critical awareness; and uncertain career futures and training improvements. Social media featured in each of the themes, particularly in how it exposed participants to various social justice movements. While students acknowledged developing more critical awareness in their programs, they nonetheless felt a disconnect between what they perceived they needed to learn and what was taught. Participants also described uncertainty associated with the future directions of their program or career. Analysis of their perspectives reveal ways dietetics and dietetics education could further incorporate critical pedagogies that highlight social justice issues, enhancing the field’s potential to contribute to public health and health promotion. In this time of transition for dietetics education in Manitoba, drawing inspiration from perspectives of this cohort, there is an opportunity for dietetics and pedagogy to evolve. There is also potential to apply critical pedagogy to analyze trainee perspectives of other health professional education and training programs.

Health professionals’ continuing education attitudes and experiences in food and nutrition sustainability

Abstract Further training opportunities in food and nutrition sustainability are considered to be generally lacking in Malta. The main aims of this descriptive pilot study were therefore to identify health professionals’ past continuing education (CE) behaviours and to provide insights for the future development of post-qualification training in food and sustainability subject areas. A cross-sectional study design was employed through the use of an anonymised survey which was disseminated online, targeting health professionals who were currently practicing in Malta. 84 respondents from various health professions returned the survey. Most had not received any previous post-qualification training in food and nutrition sustainability. Improved knowledge and competencies were listed as the main advantages for CE, with lack of time, or funding, perceived as the main challenges. This study confirms the lack of post-qualification training opportunities in food sustainability for local health professionals. Further exploratory research is encouraged to understand specifically the needs related to workplaces, benefitting professionals as well as patients, whilst incorporating ways to strengthen sustainability literacy and improving affordable and accessible further training programmes for health professionals. These lessons for practice can be extended for use within wider international settings.

Representation of Asian ethnic subgroups in Aotearoa's regulated health workforce pre-registration students.

To provide a socio-demographic profile of Asian students enrolled in their first year of a health professional programme in polytechnics and universities in Aotearoa New Zealand and to explore differences in enrolment rates (ERs) within Asian sub-groups and by socio-economic deprivation, citizenship status, urban/rural location and gender. Ethnic group/sub-group and socio-demographic characteristics of students enrolling within 21 health professional programmes were collected and averaged over 5 years (2016-2020). Age- and ethnicity-matched denominator data from the 2018 Census were used to calculate yearly ERs and ratios (ERR) using generalised linear modelling with the European ethnic group as the reference. The overall ER for Asian students was higher than for Europeans (ERs [95% confidence interval: 280 [269-292] per 100,000 population aged 18-29 per year vs 149 [144-154]). However, Indian, Chinese and Southeast Asian students were under-represented in occupational therapy (ERR: 0.33-0.67, p=<0.017), midwifery (ERR: 0.46-0.61, p=<0.002) and paramedicine (ERR: 0.23-0.29, p<0.001). There were proportionately fewer female Asian students compared with European students (68% vs 82%, p<0.001). This novel research provides detailed information on Asian sub-group representation in health professional programmes in Aotearoa. Taken in the context of known health needs of different Asian sub-groups, these data may facilitate health workforce planning and targeted policies within health professional programmes in order to better match the health workforce to population health needs.

Increasing Self-Efficacy for the Management of Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Through an Advanced Practice Education Program for Primary Care Professionals.

Previous studies have shown that primary care (PC) professionals have a low knowledge about the management of patients with type 2 diabetes, despite being one of the most common chronic diseases. The objective of this study is to analyze the impact of an educational program for health professionals on the metabolic control of their patients diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. This work follows a quasi-experimental longitudinal design following a double perspective. First, an educational intervention was conducted on primary care health professionals. Previous diabetes knowledge was evaluated on 157 PC health professionals. Those with lower knowledge scores (<3.5 out of 7) were allocated to the intervention group. An 8-week advanced education program was conducted on 77 PC health professionals. Self-efficacy and quality of care were evaluated. Second, a prospective cohort study was conducted to evaluate changes in metabolic parameters in their patients with type 2 diabetes. A total of 4099 patients with type 2 diabetes attending PC services were divided depending on the formation of health professionals. Biochemical and other clinical parameters were determined at baseline and after 12 months; the study was allocated in the Primary Health Centers of Meuhedet North District (Israel), from January 2022 to June 2023. Changes from the baseline were compared using ANOVA. Additionally, a mixed-effect model was conducted to capture variability within primary care staff and between groups of patients. The education program significantly improved health staff knowledge (p < 0.001) and all dimensions of self-efficacy (p < 0.001 in all cases). These improvements were mirrored in patients' outcomes, since those managed by health professionals attending the advanced practice education showed, after 6 months, better glucose (p < 0.001), HbA1c (p < 0.001), and eGFR (p = 0.006) levels. The advanced practice education program oriented to PC professionals was able to significantly improve their self-efficacy and perceived quality of care, which induced a significant effect on metabolic markers of patients with type 2 diabetes. Overall, the data reinforce the usefulness of advanced education programs, especially in chronic complex diseases like type 2 diabetes.

Mindfulness in Helping Professions: A Systematic Review of Interventions and Research Gaps

ABSTRACT Mindfulness interventions yield significant benefits such as stress reduction, increased empathy and compassion, and enhanced self-efficacy among counselors. These outcomes are particularly valuable for helping professionals. This systematic review examines mindfulness interventions within mental health professional development programs, evaluating their effectiveness, assessing outcomes, and analyzing the mindfulness measures used. A comprehensive search across three databases identified 19 articles meeting the inclusion criteria. Findings demonstrate that diverse formats of mindfulness interventions effectively enhance mindfulness levels, reduce stress, foster self-compassion, and improve mental health outcomes among counselors and trainees. The review underscores the necessity for future studies to report practical significance to further substantiate the impact of mindfulness interventions in professional practice.

Interprofessional values and ethics curriculum for first year health professions students

An Interprofessional Values and Ethics session was developed within the context of a larger Interprofessional Education program to teach early learners of various health profession programs to work collectively to explore social determinants of health as part of ethical and patient-centered care. The full program was delivered across fall and spring semesters of the first year of training for health science students. Students were provided didactic prework and collaborated in their small interprofessional groups during the Values and Ethics session to develop an interprofessional code of ethics. Finally, students participated in a team-based simulation using the IHELP tool to explore social determinants of health with standardized patients. Interprofessional co-facilitators guided each group of students through the session, assessing their interprofessional skill and ability to use the IHELP tool. Students and facilitators completed evaluations of the session, including quantitative and qualitative responses.

Holding a mirror to society? The socio-demographic characteristics of students commencing health professional programmes, and all courses, at Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka (the University of Otago), 1994-2023.

To present selected key findings from a longitudinal analysis of the socio-demographic characteristics of students entering all courses at Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka (the University of Otago), all health professional programmes combined, and 11 individual health professional programmes between 1994 and 2023. Data sources: 1) university electronic collections of student data (programme details, demographics, schooling, home address), and 2) publicly available datasets (some socio-demographic variables). Analyses included counts and proportions of commencing students, disaggregated by time period and socio-demographic variables, and commencement rates per 100,000 population aged 18-29 years. During this 30-year period, there was a notable increase in the overall proportion of domestic health professional programme students who were Māori or Pacific, and an increase in enrolments of students from rural backgrounds. The socio-economic profile of incoming students remained unchanged, with students being highly skewed towards those from more socio-economically privileged backgrounds. The proportion of domestic health professional programme students who were female increased across all years, reaching nearly two-thirds by the study end. While efforts to enhance health professional student diversity have had a positive impact, the university's vision of a health workforce that represents Māori and the diverse contexts of Aotearoa New Zealand's society will require long-term ongoing commitment.

Virtual support group initiative for mental health professionals in the COVID-19 pandemic.

As a result of the coronavirus pandemic, mental health professionals have faced the challenge of helping their clients cope with pandemic-related distress on top of ongoing therapeutic issues. This article describes a telehealth-delivered peer/mutual support program for mental health professionals during the pandemic and the key themes identified by participants. An interdivisional American Psychological Association task force formed a working group to identify practical ways to provide mental health professionals with direct support during the pandemic. A mutual support program, the Clinician Support Collaborative, was initiated using virtual video technology. This article describes the program and themes that emerged, including the challenges and benefits of using virtual video technology to host mutual support meetings. Mutual support meetings were conducted on a weekly basis in 2020 and 2021, with mental health professionals and trainees in the Americas, Australasia, and India participating. Key themes identified included the logistical, therapeutic, and privacy concerns participants faced when shifting to telehealth, professional isolation, compassion fatigue, moral injury, burnout, stigma, disparities, and the intersection of personal/family stressors and work stressors. Recommendations for future use of virtual video technology to provide mutual support by and for mental health professionals are provided. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Pedagogical and teaching strategies used to teach writing to pre-licensure students enrolled in health professional programs: a scoping review protocol.

The objective of this review is to map the existing literature on pedagogical approaches and teaching strategies used to teach academic and professional writing to pre-licensure students who are enrolled in health professional programs. Health professional programs are intended to develop competence in both academic and professional writing. Effective academic writing skills prompt critical reflection and engagement with research communities, while professional writing skills are used to document interventions and communicate across health systems. Despite the importance of these 2 forms of writing, there are ongoing concerns that practitioners are entering practice without adequate writing skills. Given these concerns and the importance of writing across health disciplines, there is value in identifying the pedagogical strategies and approaches used in health professional programs to develop writing skills and to transfer such skills from one communicative context to another. This review will consider research on the pedagogical approaches and teaching strategies used to teach academic and professional writing in pre-licensure health professional programs. This review will be conducted in line with the JBI methodology for scoping reviews. The search strategy will aim to locate published literature using MEDLINE (Ovid), Embase, CINAHL with Full-Text (EBSCOhost), ProQuest Nursing & Allied Health (ProQuest), and ERIC (EBSCOhost), along with gray literature (using databases/search engines). Papers published from 2010 onward in English and in French will be included. Extracted data will be reported in tabular format and presented narratively to address each review objective. http://osf.io/9raxp.

Unacceptable Behaviors Towards Health Professional Clinical Students: Protocol For a Mixed-Methods Study.

Previous studies describe the occurrence of unacceptable behaviors reported by students pursuing health professional education in Aotearoa, New Zealand and across the globe. These include, but are not limited to, experiences of verbal abuse, sexual harassment, and discrimination based on race/ethnicity, religious beliefs, gender, and sexual orientation. University of Otago teaching staff across the various health professional programs often receive anecdotal reports of these phenomena from their clinical students. Our study will investigate the extent and sources of unacceptable behaviors, whether students report those events, and possible institutional responses to these behaviors. A student codesign panel was formed alongside the research team to guide study design and data collection. This study will use a sequential two-phase mixed methods design. The first phase will include a cross-sectional survey using a modified version of a validated online questionnaire administered to all clinical students across the seven health professional programs at the University of Otago. The second phase will recruit students to participate in semi-structured interviews. Descriptive and thematic analysis will be applied. This novel mixed-method study may offer valuable insights into the prevalence and impact of unacceptable behaviors on health professional students at the University of Otago, while ensuring student perspectives are incorporated into both the research design and the university's response strategies.

Evaluation of food pattern behaviours following nutritional education for health professionals

Abstract Background The “Work Programme - UN Decade of action on nutrition 2016-2025” highlights the importance of implementing Recommendation 19 of the Second International Conference on Nutrition of FAO and WHO related to nutrition education interventions (NEI) for health professionals (HP), in order to develop nutritional skills based on national dietary guidelines and coherent policies relating to food. The Local Health Agency integrated with Trieste University (ASUGI), since 2009, has performed 25 NEI with the formation of 910 HP. Post pandemic, the content of ASUGI’s last 5 NEI, programmed by the prevention plan of the Autonomous Region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, was aligned with the principles of the European Farm to Fork Strategy linked to Sustainable Healthy Diets (SHD). Objectives The objectives of the training programme (TP), approved for Continuing Medical Education, was to change and evaluate food pattern behaviour (FPB) of HP (n = 200) to adhere to the SHD. TP was characterized by a systemic view on complex interconnections between nutritional and sensorial food value, sustainability of food chain systems, evolution of urban food environments, as contexts into which SHD choices can be applied. The 2 days training, spread over 14 hours with 40 participants, concluded with interactive work and experiences to applied knowledge and beginning to make informed healthy dietary choices in practice. Results 6 months after the conclusion of TP it was reported that the percentage of HP who consumed the recommended portions of fruits and vegetables had increased from 62% to 70% and from 28% to 35% respectively, while those who consumed no cured meats, red meats or legumes, changed from 24% to 35%, from 19% to 25%, from 6% to 3% respectively. Conclusions The evaluation of the TP systemic structure has shown its effectiveness in improving some healthy FPB of HP and the importance of applying a continuous improvement process of the program to better adhere to the whole SHD. Key messages • The systemic and integrated structure of nutritional education intervention programs for health professionals contributes to improving their healthy food pattern behaviour. • The relationships between complex policies of food systems and the 17 SDGs included in the training programs on nutrition education are useful for promoting adherence to healthy and sustainable diets.

Needs assessment to design a multidisciplinary training programme within the EU-PROMENS project

Abstract Background Mental health as a public health issue warrants a comprehensive prevention-oriented approach whereby capacity building as well as a multisectoral and life-course approach are crucial. The ‘Capacity-building on mental health: multidisciplinary training programme and exchange programme for health professionals,’ project enhances and improves the capacity of professionals across Europe in the field of mental health. Various professionals are targeted 1) health professionals working in the mental health sector, 2) teachers and educators working in the educational setting, 3) social workers working in various community settings and 4) prison staff. Objectives To understand the needs, gaps, obstacles in capacities, competencies, and to build upon existing programmes a mixed methods study, adopting a convergent parallel design is conducted to design and develop the programme. First, a literature review is conducted complemented with interviews, focus group discussions and a survey among various stakeholders to enrich the data. The training will be piloted in The Netherlands, Spain, Czech Republic, Croatia, Finland and Austria. Thereafter it will be rolled out in the 21 remaining EU countries as well as in Norway, Iceland and Ukraine. Results Various gaps and competencies identified from different perspectives build a solid fundament for a comprehensive multidisciplinary training programme tailored to the needs of various professionals within the mental health arena. Preliminary results show that 98 multidisciplinary training programmes exist, with about half containing training materials and limited reports on evaluation. Conclusions The comprehensive needs assessment will assure a multidisciplinary training programme is suitable and relevant for various professionals to ensure a well-designed capacity-building programme. Key messages • Various gaps and needs among various professionals exist. • A comprehensive study strengthens alignment of training to needs and gaps among various professionals.

Exploring the "led" in health professional student-led experiences: a scoping review.

To support a complex health system, students are expected to be competent leaders as well as competent clinicians. Intentional student leadership development is needed in health professional education programs. Student-led experiences such as student-run clinics and interprofessional training wards, are practice-based learning opportunities where learners provide leadership to clinical services and/or address a gap in the system. Given the absence of leadership definitions and concepts, this scoping review explored how student leadership is conceptualized and developed in student-led experiences. The review was conducted in accordance with best practices in scoping review methodology within the scope of relevant practice-based student-led experiences for health professional students. The research team screened 4659 abstracts, identified 315 articles for full-text review and selected 75 articles for data extraction and analysis. A thematic analysis produced themes related to leadership concepts/theories/models, objectives, facilitation/supervision, assessment and evaluation of curriculum. While responding to system gaps within health professional care, student-led experiences need to align explicit leadership theory/concepts/models with curricular objectives, pedagogy, and assessments to support health professional education. To support future student-led experiences, authors mapped five leadership student role profiles that were associated with student-led models and could be constructively aligned with theory and concepts. In addition to leveraging a student workforce to address system needs, student-led experiences must also be a force for learning through a reciprocal model of leadership and service to develop future health professionals and leaders.