Home Care Learning Model for Medical Students in Chile: A Mixed Methods Study

Abstract

Introduction . The relevance of home care training is not questioned. However, there are no reported learning models to teach in this setting. Aims . To develop and evaluate a learning model to teach home care to medical students. Methods. Stage 1: Learning Model Design. Tutors teaching home care and a sample of medical students were invited to focus groups analyzed according to the grounded theory. Later, the researchers designed the learning model, which was approved by all participants. Stage 2: Learning Assessment. All students in their family medicine internship at Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile were invited to participate in a nonrandomized before-and-after pilot trial, assessing changes in their perception towards home care and satisfaction with the learning model. Results . Stage 1: Six tutors and eight students participated in the focus groups. The learning model includes activities before, during, and after the visits. Stage 2: 105 students (88.2%) participated. We observed improvement in all home care training domains ( P≤0.001 ) and a high satisfaction with the model. Students with previous home visit experiences and who participated with nurses and social workers reported more learning. Conclusions . We report an effective learning model to train medical students in home care. Limitations and recommendations for future studies are discussed.