Understanding Rehabilitation as a Health Strategy - Evaluation Report

Summary

From September 13 to October 24, 2021, Learning, Acting, and Building for Rehabilitation in Health Systems (ReLAB-HS), led by Physiopedia, successfully delivered a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) entitled “Understanding Rehabilitation as a Health Strategy” via the Physioplus online learning platform. The program consisted of four independent courses, which included:

1. Introduction to Rehabilitation
2. Rehabilitation in Health Systems
3. Rehabilitation Infrastructures and the Rehabilitation Team
4. Competent Delivery of Rehabilitation Teams

In each course, the learner completed required learning activities and a final quiz that tested knowledge gained from the course. To complete the overall Understanding Rehabilitation as a Health Strategy program, the learner had the option to submit and pass a written assignment.

Course Type: Free, Open, Online

Institution: ReLAB-HS via Physiopedia

About this Course: This MOOC aimed to equip health and social care professionals with a comprehensive knowledge of rehabilitation within the current global context, so they can play an effective and proactive role in local and global efforts to increase access to high-     quality rehabilitation.

Target Audience: These courses were designed and written for health and social care professionals, clinicians, students, assistants, and other rehabilitation-related health systems stakeholders.

Time Commitment: 16 hours over four weeks (with an optional extra eight hours)

Date: September 13 to October 24, 2021, (remains available on Physioplus platform to members)

Requirements: Participants were required to complete online learning activities, engage with additional resources, and complete the course evaluations and quizzes.

Assessment: There was a quiz at the end of each course, and participants could complete an optional final written assignment to demonstrate knowledge gained from the four courses.

Awards: Four course completion certificates awarding a total of 15.5 Physioplus (P+) points with an additional four Physioplus (P+) points available for the optional assignment.

Accreditation: Each individual course was accredited for continuing education and professional development (CE/CPD) by Texas Board of Physical Therapy Examiners and South African Society of Physiotherapy

Registrations: 10,703

Countries Represented: 107

Professions Represented: 25   

Acknowledgements

The Understanding Rehabilitation as a Health Strategy MOOC was developed and delivered by ReLAB-HS and Physiopedia.

Course Coordinators: Rachael Lowe, Naomi O’Reilly

Content Contributors: Naomi O’Reilly, Cindy John-Chu, Habibu Salisu Badamasi, Khloud Shreif, Neha Duhan, Safiya Naz, Shreya Pavaskar, Tunde Aderonmu, Vidya Acharya, Liliane Kirenga

Course Facilitators: Rachael Lowe, Naomi O’Reilly, Jess Bell, Tarina van der Stockt, Lucy Aird, Lucinda Hampton, Kate-Lynn Downey

For information regarding this report, please contact: Rachael Lowe ([email protected])

Introduction

During September and October 2021, ReLAB-HS,  led by Physiopedia, delivered a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) entitled, “Understanding Rehabilitation as a Health Strategy.”      This USAID-funded program built on Physiopedia’s ten-year track record of developing and delivering MOOCs, being its tenth annual release of a customized learning program. The MOOC was delivered as four courses with an optional written final assignment to complete the program.

The Understanding Rehabilitation as a Health Strategy program aimed to equip health and social care professionals with a comprehensive knowledge of rehabilitation within the current global context, so that they can play an effective and proactive role in local and global efforts to increase access to high-quality rehabilitation services.

The four week-long courses presented different topics through a variety of learning activities to suit all learning styles. The required learning activities within each course were developed to take between four to six hours depending on the participant's learning style, and optional activities were provided should the participant wish to take part in additional learning. A short orientation period before the course provided participants with an opportunity to become familiar with the delivery platform and the topic via the provided pre-course resources.

The course was delivered through the Physioplus online learning platform, an innovative platform specifically developed to provide online education and support learners with a personalized learning dashboard. For each course, the related learning activities were released on a specific course page. Participants engaged with each course and the respective learning activities, and their activity was recorded and displayed in their personal learning dashboard.

A course was considered complete once the learner finished all required learning activities and successfully passed the final quiz that tested knowledge gained each week. There was also an optional written assignment designed for participants to apply the knowledge gained from all four courses.  On completion of each course the participants had the option to download a completion certificate and export a record of their learning from their activity log.

This report evaluates the experiences and engagement of the participants on the Understanding Rehabilitation as a Health Strategy MOOC.

1.1 Aim

Through this MOOC, ReLAB-HS aimed to build on recent work to strengthen the advocacy case for better recognition of rehabilitation in health systems by increasing knowledge among global stakeholders and build on Physiopedia’s global community of professional learners to amplify the growing voice of professional identity and challenges for integrating rehabilitation into health systems.

In order to achieve this, a program of four courses was created with the aim of developing            a comprehensive knowledge of rehabilitation within the current global context among health and social care professionals so that they can play an effective and proactive role in local and global efforts to increase access to high-quality rehabilitation services. The program included an introduction to rehabilitation, overview of rehabilitation with health systems, rehabilitation infrastructure and the rehabilitation teams, and competent delivery of rehabilitation interventions.

1.2 Learning Objectives

At the end of this program of courses, participants were able to:

1. Explain what is meant by the term rehabilitation
2. Describe conceptual models related to rehabilitation based on a case study
3. Discuss the demographic trends triggering the growing need for rehabilitation
4. Describe five benefits of rehabilitation
5. Discuss Rehabilitation 2030 and three recommendations
6. Describe health equity through a disability and intersectionality lens
7. Identify three factors leading to exclusion and inequities in health care
8. Explain the key components of inclusion
9. Correctly describe the concept of Universal Health Coverage
10. Describe the scope of rehabilitation in a health system
11. Explain the role of the interdisciplinary team in rehabilitation services
12. Describe the roles of five common team members within the rehabilitation team
13. Describe the actions rehabilitation providers can take to manage and improve services
14. Discuss the general impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on rehabilitation services
15. Describe the different ways rehabilitation frameworks are used and the design features associated with different framework applications
16. Justify the use of different therapeutic interventions depending on treatment goal for a patient
17. Choose an appropriate set of interventions that could be included in a rehabilitation management plan of a patient

1.3 Intended Audience

This course is suitable for all rehabilitation professionals, students, and assistants, including but not limited to: physiotherapists, occupational therapists, speech and language      therapists, rehabilitation doctors, rehabilitation nurses, prosthetists, orthotists, psychologists, audiologists, dietetics, social workers, and community-based health workers. Other health, social, and rehabilitation professionals interested in this subject are also invited to participate.

1.4 Cost to Participants

The course was free to all participants who completed the course within the 6-week timeframe and remains free to all Physioplus members and residents of low-income countries outside of this timeframe.

1.5 Course Availability

The program of four courses and optional assignment were made available on September 13, 2021. Participants had until October 24, 2021 to complete the courses under their free access to Physioplus. The course remains available on the Physioplus platform to members; membership is free to individuals from low-income countries and available at a discounted rate to individuals in middle-income countries.

1.6 Courses, Course Awards, and Accreditation

Four individual courses were created for the Understanding Rehabilitation as a Health Strategy Program, which can each be completed individually or can be completed as a program of courses with an additional assignment.

Course 1:  Introduction to Rehabilitation (3.8 P+ Points)

Course 2: Rehabilitation in Health Systems (3.4 P+ Points)

Course 3: Rehabilitation Infrastructures and the Rehabilitation Team (4.2 P+ Points)

Course 4: Competent Delivery of Rehabilitation Teams (3.1 P+ Points)

Course Program: Understanding Rehabilitation as a Health Strategy (5.0 P+ Points)

Physiopedia provided individual course completion certificates to all participants that passed each of the four individual courses. For individuals who completed all four courses and completed the assignment were also provided with a program certificate for recognition of completing the full program.

2.0 Demographics of the Participants

2.1 Country

Of the 10,703 registered participants, 1,753 individuals started the Understanding Rehabilitation as Health Strategy program before the end date of October 24, 2021, representing 107 countries. The tables below show a breakdown by country and country income classification. A full list of the countries and number of participants from each country can be found in Appendix 1. In total, 335 individuals completed the fourth MOOC course, which is used as the definition of MOOC completion in the data below.

Table 1: Top Ten Represented Countries

Country	n (Participants Who Started)	n (% completed from country)
Australia	163	39 (24%)
Nigeria	160	36 (23%)
India	149	12 (8%)
United Kingdom	137	27 (20%)
Philippines	84	11 (13%)
Egypt	65	6 (9%)
United States	62	14 (23%)
Pakistan	62	15 (24%)
South Africa	51	13 (25%)
Uganda	39	11 (28%)

Data are numbers (n) and percentage of country participants (%)

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