Background: Medical improvisation is an innovative approach to train healthcare professionals in effective communication. The success of this type of training depends on the active engagement of participants.
Method: A total of 136 interprofessional healthcare workers completed surveys before and after a two-hour medical improvisation communication training session in October 2020. We investigated individual- and program-level contributors to participation outputs (e.g. engagement and experience).
Results: 97% of healthcare professionals in the participating department took part in the training. 82% described the training in positive terms or as a learning experience. Younger participants, medical doctors, and those who had difficulty tolerating uncertainty were less excited than others about training. Their engagement was associated with their excitement and group size. Uncertainty tolerance predicted engagement via a full mediation of excitement.
Conclusions: Building excitement, reducing uncertainty about training, and capping group size are likely to improve participant's engagement and experience and will inform dissemination and implementation efforts.
Keywords: Communication training; Continued medical education; Interprofessional healthcare teams; Logic model; Medical improvisation; Mixed-methods; Process evaluation; Program evaluation.