Ignite Creation Date:
2024-05-06 @ 3:52 PM
Last Modification Date:
2024-10-26 @ 1:58 PM
Study NCT ID:
NCT04783025
Status:
UNKNOWN
Last Update Posted:
2021-05-12
First Post:
2021-02-25
Brief Title:
A Blended Gaming COVID-19 Training System BGCTS With WHO Guidelines for Staff in Residential Care Homes
Sponsor:
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Organization:
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Study Overview
Official Title:
A Blended Gaming COVID-19 Training System BGCTS With WHO Guidelines for Staff in Residential Care Homes A Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial
Status:
UNKNOWN
Status Verified Date:
2021-05
Last Known Status:
RECRUITING
Delayed Posting:
No
If Stopped, Why?:
Not Stopped
Has Expanded Access:
False
If Expanded Access, NCT#:
N/A
Has Expanded Access, NCT# Status:
N/A
Acronym:
BGCTS
Brief Summary:
188 healthcare personnel from 20 residential care homes RCHs will be recruited to assess the effect of 2-week implementation of Blended Gaming COVID-19 Training System BGCTS on RCH staffs infection control practices These clusters RCHs will be randomly allocated to two study groups the intervention group IG and the control group CG to assess 1 whether more staff in the IG perform infection control practices by on-site observations than the staff in the CG after receiving BGCTS and 2 whether more staff in the IG have infection control knowledge positive attitudes towards infection control and self-reported compliance rates than the staff in the CG 5 Hypothesis have been set up for this study
H1 After using BGCTS a higher proportion of the staff in the IG will exhibit performance in complying with hand hygiene measures than those in the CG
H2 After using BGCTS a higher proportion of the staff in the IG will exhibit performance in complying with other infection control practices than those in the CG
H3 After using BGCTS a higher proportion of the staff in the IG will have high level of knowledge of infection control than those in the CG
H4 After using BGCTS a higher proportion of the staff in the IG will have positive attitudes towards infection control than those in the CG
H5 After using BGCTS a higher proportion of the staff in the IG will have a high self-reported compliance rate with infection control measures than those in the CG
Infection control practices conducted by RCH staffs will be measured through unobtrusive on-site non-participatory observations RCH staffs knowledge attitudes about infection control practice and self-reported infection control practices will be assessed via an electronic quiz
H1 After using BGCTS a higher proportion of the staff in the IG will exhibit performance in complying with hand hygiene measures than those in the CG
H2 After using BGCTS a higher proportion of the staff in the IG will exhibit performance in complying with other infection control practices than those in the CG
H3 After using BGCTS a higher proportion of the staff in the IG will have high level of knowledge of infection control than those in the CG
H4 After using BGCTS a higher proportion of the staff in the IG will have positive attitudes towards infection control than those in the CG
H5 After using BGCTS a higher proportion of the staff in the IG will have a high self-reported compliance rate with infection control measures than those in the CG
Infection control practices conducted by RCH staffs will be measured through unobtrusive on-site non-participatory observations RCH staffs knowledge attitudes about infection control practice and self-reported infection control practices will be assessed via an electronic quiz
Detailed Description:
Background
Residents in residential care homes are at a high risk of being infected by COVID-19 due to the advanced age associated co-morbidities and state of dependence of the residents According to the licensing requirements for RCHs in Hong Kong a registered nurse is designated as an Infection Control Officer ICO to coordinate matters related to the prevention and handling of infectious diseases in each RCH During the pandemic the ICOs disseminate the COVID-19 guidelines which were developed by the Centre for Health Protection CHP under the Food and Health Bureau of the Hong Kong government to all staff in RCHs Whether the staff understand and can correctly interpret the contents and adopt the guidelines into practice is unclear There is nothing in the literature about the infection control training given by ICOs to the staff in RCHs
Innovations
The key innovation in this study is the adoption of the concept of gamification in COVID-19 infection control training The investigators apply elements of game design short video clipsinteractive video games in the form of quizzes in non-game environments RCHs within non-game contexts infection control training Gamification is widely used as an educational tool in different disciplines For example in the current study one of the simulated situations is visitor management to avoid the entry of COVID-19 in RCHs Sequential allocation in visitor management could be utilized in the gamified training programme to allow learners the chance to practice in a virtual environment The inappropriate management of visitors could lead to the spread of COVID-19 infections in an RCH and learners could have a second chance to do better in a virtual environment
Gamified training offers many benefits the major one of which is that it allows learners to learn at a convenience time and place The use of gamification restructures the experience of a traditional boring activity into something enjoyable interactive and competitive with the result that learners can remain active and engaged throughout the learning process In addition training with the use of games can improve compliance with decided behaviour Learners were found to have developed new skills andor new habits via gamified training
Objectives
This study aims to assess the effect of the Blended Gaming COVID-19 Training System BGCTS on infection control practices compliance rates and knowledge of standard precautions among all staff in residential care homes RCHs
The specific objectives and hypothesis of the study include
1 To assess whether more staff in the intervention group IG perform infection control practices by on-site observations than the staff in the control group CG after receiving the BGCTS
2 To assess whether more staff in the IG have infection control knowledge positive attitudes towards infection control and self-reported compliance rates than the staff in the CG
Method
This study collects data through on-site observations of infection control practices which requires resources and special training Observations will be the primary outcome of this study Special arrangements on conducting on-site non-participatory unobtrusive observations in RCHs will be made to ensure the validity and reliability of the results
Unobtrusive non-participatory observations of the infection control practices of healthcare personnel will be conducted in the RCHs Healthcare personnel will include doctors nurses occupational therapists physiotherapists health workers and personal care workers who are working in the RCHs Observations will be made at baseline before the intervention and after the intervention post-intervention Observations will be made in five areas hand hygiene respiratory hygiene the use of personal protective equipment PPE environmental cleaning and disinfection and the proper handling of used or contaminated materials A total of 200 observation opportunities per RCH unit will be made to avoid measurement bias
At least three cameras webcams with recording function will be set up in each RCH to capture the staffs hand hygiene practice The number of cameras will be determined after site visit to the RCH The investigators would cover substantial areas of the RCH including most of the hand washing facilities Prior to the initiation of camera monitoring staff of RCHs will be clearly informed about the recording Camera recording will be made for 2 weeks in each RCH Each week the research assistant will go to the RCH and download the recordings to the designated computer for the sake of protecting the security of the recording data The obtained video recording will be evaluated by the research nurse who will randomly select 20 to 30-minute recording per shift for observation morning shift afternoon shift and night shift To protect privacy of the RCH staff the staff will be de-identified and anonymized before observation and all actions will be examined in confidentiality This is designed to minimize the Hawthorn effect due to observations that is healthcare personnel perform differently when being observed because the observers presence gradually becomes insignificant to the healthcare personnel In an RCH unit more than one healthcare personnel provides care to the residents Observations will be made of the first healthcare personnel to provide direct care to the residents before the other healthcare personnel take action There will be no interference with the care procedure during the observations
Data analysis
To examine the difference in the change in the primary outcome - the observational-based compliance rate for hand hygiene - from baseline to post-intervention between the IG and CG investigators will perform a linear mixed-effects model with a log link function to control for the clustering effect at the RCH level with Time Group and the interaction term Time x Group as independent variables A significant result in the interaction term Time x Group will indicate a differential change in the outcome variable between the two groups and will support hypothesis H1
To examine differences in the changes in the secondary outcomes including the observational-based compliance rate with other infection control practices self-reported compliance knowledge and attitude rates Hypotheses H2 - H5 investigators will perform a separate linear mixed-effects model for each of the secondary outcomes similar to that for the primary outcome A significant result in the interaction term Time x Group will indicate a differential change in the outcome variable between the two groups
The investigators will also perform sub-group analyses by demographic and experience data to explore whether the effect of the intervention is homogeneous with respect to the different demographic and experience characteristics of the participants Specifically an interaction term Group x characteristic will be added to the model to explore the effect of that particular characteristic on the effect of the BGCTs Further investigators will also examine a model by adding parameters from the BGCTS attempts to the video-clipspictures the time spent and the results of each game as potential factors associated with the outcome
Residents in residential care homes are at a high risk of being infected by COVID-19 due to the advanced age associated co-morbidities and state of dependence of the residents According to the licensing requirements for RCHs in Hong Kong a registered nurse is designated as an Infection Control Officer ICO to coordinate matters related to the prevention and handling of infectious diseases in each RCH During the pandemic the ICOs disseminate the COVID-19 guidelines which were developed by the Centre for Health Protection CHP under the Food and Health Bureau of the Hong Kong government to all staff in RCHs Whether the staff understand and can correctly interpret the contents and adopt the guidelines into practice is unclear There is nothing in the literature about the infection control training given by ICOs to the staff in RCHs
Innovations
The key innovation in this study is the adoption of the concept of gamification in COVID-19 infection control training The investigators apply elements of game design short video clipsinteractive video games in the form of quizzes in non-game environments RCHs within non-game contexts infection control training Gamification is widely used as an educational tool in different disciplines For example in the current study one of the simulated situations is visitor management to avoid the entry of COVID-19 in RCHs Sequential allocation in visitor management could be utilized in the gamified training programme to allow learners the chance to practice in a virtual environment The inappropriate management of visitors could lead to the spread of COVID-19 infections in an RCH and learners could have a second chance to do better in a virtual environment
Gamified training offers many benefits the major one of which is that it allows learners to learn at a convenience time and place The use of gamification restructures the experience of a traditional boring activity into something enjoyable interactive and competitive with the result that learners can remain active and engaged throughout the learning process In addition training with the use of games can improve compliance with decided behaviour Learners were found to have developed new skills andor new habits via gamified training
Objectives
This study aims to assess the effect of the Blended Gaming COVID-19 Training System BGCTS on infection control practices compliance rates and knowledge of standard precautions among all staff in residential care homes RCHs
The specific objectives and hypothesis of the study include
1 To assess whether more staff in the intervention group IG perform infection control practices by on-site observations than the staff in the control group CG after receiving the BGCTS
2 To assess whether more staff in the IG have infection control knowledge positive attitudes towards infection control and self-reported compliance rates than the staff in the CG
Method
This study collects data through on-site observations of infection control practices which requires resources and special training Observations will be the primary outcome of this study Special arrangements on conducting on-site non-participatory unobtrusive observations in RCHs will be made to ensure the validity and reliability of the results
Unobtrusive non-participatory observations of the infection control practices of healthcare personnel will be conducted in the RCHs Healthcare personnel will include doctors nurses occupational therapists physiotherapists health workers and personal care workers who are working in the RCHs Observations will be made at baseline before the intervention and after the intervention post-intervention Observations will be made in five areas hand hygiene respiratory hygiene the use of personal protective equipment PPE environmental cleaning and disinfection and the proper handling of used or contaminated materials A total of 200 observation opportunities per RCH unit will be made to avoid measurement bias
At least three cameras webcams with recording function will be set up in each RCH to capture the staffs hand hygiene practice The number of cameras will be determined after site visit to the RCH The investigators would cover substantial areas of the RCH including most of the hand washing facilities Prior to the initiation of camera monitoring staff of RCHs will be clearly informed about the recording Camera recording will be made for 2 weeks in each RCH Each week the research assistant will go to the RCH and download the recordings to the designated computer for the sake of protecting the security of the recording data The obtained video recording will be evaluated by the research nurse who will randomly select 20 to 30-minute recording per shift for observation morning shift afternoon shift and night shift To protect privacy of the RCH staff the staff will be de-identified and anonymized before observation and all actions will be examined in confidentiality This is designed to minimize the Hawthorn effect due to observations that is healthcare personnel perform differently when being observed because the observers presence gradually becomes insignificant to the healthcare personnel In an RCH unit more than one healthcare personnel provides care to the residents Observations will be made of the first healthcare personnel to provide direct care to the residents before the other healthcare personnel take action There will be no interference with the care procedure during the observations
Data analysis
To examine the difference in the change in the primary outcome - the observational-based compliance rate for hand hygiene - from baseline to post-intervention between the IG and CG investigators will perform a linear mixed-effects model with a log link function to control for the clustering effect at the RCH level with Time Group and the interaction term Time x Group as independent variables A significant result in the interaction term Time x Group will indicate a differential change in the outcome variable between the two groups and will support hypothesis H1
To examine differences in the changes in the secondary outcomes including the observational-based compliance rate with other infection control practices self-reported compliance knowledge and attitude rates Hypotheses H2 - H5 investigators will perform a separate linear mixed-effects model for each of the secondary outcomes similar to that for the primary outcome A significant result in the interaction term Time x Group will indicate a differential change in the outcome variable between the two groups
The investigators will also perform sub-group analyses by demographic and experience data to explore whether the effect of the intervention is homogeneous with respect to the different demographic and experience characteristics of the participants Specifically an interaction term Group x characteristic will be added to the model to explore the effect of that particular characteristic on the effect of the BGCTs Further investigators will also examine a model by adding parameters from the BGCTS attempts to the video-clipspictures the time spent and the results of each game as potential factors associated with the outcome
Study Oversight
Has Oversight DMC:
None
Is a FDA Regulated Drug?:
False
Is a FDA Regulated Device?:
False
Is an Unapproved Device?:
None
Is a PPSD?:
None
Is a US Export?:
None
Is an FDA AA801 Violation?:
None