Where confidence fails, training prevails: Effects of behavioural skills training on improving kaimahi confidence when using patient management systems for outreach immunisation services.

Abstract

In New Zealand, immunisation rates among tamariki Māori are consistently lower nationally at all recommended age milestones. Access to clear and timely information can facilitate engagement with whānau Māori. This study evaluated the effectiveness of Behavioural skills training (BST) to improve kaimahi use of a patient management system (PMS) – Indici. A Kaupapa Māori approach was utilised to engage with the organisation. Seven participants were recruited from a local health and social services provider. Consultation supported development of task analyses used for training. BST occurs in four phases: instruction, modelling, rehearsal, and feedback. Data were collected following a multiple baseline design with a single baseline session, BST intervention, and a follow-up session to assess for maintenance. All participants demonstrated improvement in task accuracy following the introduction of BST and maintained task accuracy in a post-training follow-up. Despite improvements across all participants, task adherence was impacted during training. This study highlights that BST is an effective, socially valid tool for training simple skills for accessing information in a PMS such as Indici. However, further research is needed to examine the use of BST for teaching complex computer systems in applied health settings.