509 - The Art of Medicine Series: A smartphone video curriculum to improve communication skills of NICU physicians and parents

Poster Number: 509
Publication Number: 509.3136

Background: For effective communication, both physicians and parents must possess communication skills. Didactics and simulation are hallmarks of communication training in medical education, but practice of learned skills in clinical settings is inconsistent. Children whose parents are actively involved in their care tend to have better outcomes, but parents generally do not receive guidance on communicating effectively with physicians. Mobile learning can be leveraged to address these gaps in communication skills training.

Objective: Develop, implement, and measure the impact of a mobile video curriculum of communication skills for physicians and parents.

Design/Methods: A multidisciplinary team developed evidence-based scripts describing ways physicians and parents can use practical communication strategies in neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) encounters. These scripts were made into short, animated videos. An automated text-messaging system sent videos twice per week to NICU residents, fellows, attendings, and parents while their infant was in the NICU. Software tracked viewing data. Participants’ communication skills and the curriculum’s impact were measured via surveys (Figure 1).

Results: The curriculum includes 8 physician videos and 6 parent videos (Figure 2). Videos for physicians incorporate communication best practices like sitting down when talking to families, avoiding jargon, and showing empathy in common NICU tasks (e.g., speaking with families in the delivery room or during a code blue, leading a family meeting, providing lab results). Videos for parents model concrete ways to optimize communication with the medical team (e.g., participating in daily rounds, using teach-back to check understanding). In this pilot study, 70 physicians and 12 parents were invited. 19 physicians and 5 parents viewed some or all of the videos. Surveys show physicians learned and used strategies from the videos (Figure 3) and that parents discussed the video content with other family members and used the techniques when communicating with providers.

Conclusion(s): Our innovative text message-based video curriculum harnesses the power of mobile education to provide physicians and parents with evidence-based communication training. Distributing videos to physicians while in the NICU allows for practice of communication techniques in real-time during patient encounters. The curriculum for parents provides novel training to help them better communicate with the medical team. Follow-up surveys 2 months after the videos were sent demonstrate the curriculum has a sustained impact on participants’ communication skills.