The effectiveness of computer-assisted instruction as a strategy for HIV /AIDS education and training for health care professionals
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Abstract
HIV/AIDS remains as one of the leading public health concerns worldwide for over two decades. With the rising numbers of individuals diagnosed with this disease, healthcare professionals are being impacted in their daily practice. Thus, an educational self-study CD-ROM on "HIV/AIDS Prevention, Early Intervention, and Health Promotion" was developed by the Mountain Plains AIDS & Education Training Center.
To evaluate the effectiveness of this educational CD-ROM program, 221 health care professionals were recruited from 106 different zip codes to participate in an evaluation research study. A quasi-experimental pretest posttest design was utilized to measure changes in healthcare professionals' knowledge and perceived self-efficacy to care for people living with HIV after reviewing an educational CD-ROM. The secondary purpose was to evaluate the effectiveness of computer - assisted instruction (CAI) as a HIV/AIDS strategy to educate healthcare professionals seeking continuing education. The social cognitive theory concept of perceived self-efficacy provides a theoretical framework for connecting knowledge with healthcare professionals' confidence in and perception of capabilities to care for people living with HIV and identifying individuals at risk for HIV.
The results of the program evaluation showed this educational CD-ROM program to be an effective strategy to increase HIV/AIDS knowledge. This study also demonstrates increased perceived self-efficacy to care for people living with HIV/AIDS in a group of healthcare professionals. The findings of this study are favorable for the usage of CAI as an effective strategy to educate and train healthcare professionals on the topic of HIV/AIDS.