A real-world comparison of in-person vs. virtual contraceptive care trainings for clinicians and support staff

Abstract

Objectives: To conduct an exploratory analysis comparing in-person vs. virtual training programs about contraceptive care among clinicians and staff at 14 healthcare agencies in Washington state.

Methods: Survey data from in-person trainings were collected between July 2019 and March 2020 and from virtual trainings between June 2020 and January 2021.

Primary outcomes: changes in contraceptive knowledge, understanding of contraceptive counseling and care, and participant engagement and experience with the training.

Results: Post-survey response rates for in-person trainings were 82% for clinicians and 72% for support staff while post-survey response rates for virtual trainings were 48% for clinicians and 43% for staff. Average knowledge scores for in-person clinician trainings increased from 63% prior to training to 80% post-training (p < 0.05), knowledge scores for virtual clinician trainings increased from 72% to 86% (p < 0.05), and the pre-to-post change in scores between training modalities was similar (p > 0.05 for the score difference). Average knowledge scores among in-person support staff trainings increased from 63% to 84% (p < 0.05), scores among virtual support staff trainings increased from 68% to 87% (p < 0.05) and, again, the pre-to-post change in scores between training modalities was similar (p > 0.05 for the score difference). Only minimal differences in survey scores between modalities were observed on most measures of participant engagement and experience with the trainings (p > 0.05 for most score differences).

Conclusions: These exploratory results suggest that in-person and virtual contraceptive care trainings yielded comparable results among both clinicians and support staff.

Implications: Results from this post-hoc analysis of survey data suggest a general equivalency of effectiveness between in-person trainings and virtual trainings, although in-person trainings may be more satisfying or engaging for participants. Further work and research is needed to inform strategies for making virtual trainings more engaging and satisfying for participants.

Keywords: Clinician training; Contraceptive care; Contraceptive training; In-person training; Upstream; Virtual training.