Development and evaluation of an e-Learning training package to improve fertility healthcare staff skills in sharing health-related bad news with patients.

Bad news is a daily event in health care. At fertility clinics sharing bad news (e.g., infertility diagnosis, treatment failure, miscarriage) is a daily task for staff, but evidence-based guidance on how to do so is lacking. We will work with the largest NHS Welsh fertility clinic (Wales Fertility Institute) and patients to co-develop a training programme to improve fertility staff skills in sharing bad news (SBN) with their patients. Bad news is a daily event in health care. At fertility clinics sharing bad news (e.g., infertility diagnosis, treatment failure, miscarriage) is a daily task for staff, but evidence-based guidance on how to do so is lacking. We will work with the largest NHS Welsh fertility clinic (Wales Fertility Institute) and patients to co-develop a training programme to improve fertility staff skills in sharing bad news (SBN) with their patients.

Aims

1) Develop e-learning training to improve fertility staff skills in SBN.

2) Assess the acceptability and fidelity of the training among fertility staff and patients.

Methods

The PhD candidate will follow state-of-the-art methods and guidance to develop the training programme. They will

1. conduct primary quantitative and/or qualitative research (as appropriate) to develop understanding of fertility staff needs and patients’ preferences in SBN and to identify effective mechanisms of change

2. develop the underlying theory (logic model), learning objectives, content and features of the training programme and co-produce a prototype.

3. design an acceptability and feasibility study to be implemented at the Wales Fertility Institute, whereby fertility staff will be offered the training programme and observed while SBN with their patients before and after receiving the training. Assessment will focus on staff’s perceived confidence and behavioural performance while SBN, their views of the training programme, patients’ experiences and satisfaction with care, their trust in staff and willingness to continue treatment at the clinic.

Outputs will be the training programme and scientific publications regarding its development and evaluation of its acceptability by fertility staff and patients and the feasibility of its implementation.

Partners: NHS Wales Fertility Institute