New MOOC course on shared decision making and interprofessional collaboration

The HKPolyUx launched a new massive open online course (MOOC) “ Shared Decision Making and Interprofessional Collaboration in Health Care” on 2 September. This was the second MOOC project in which our staff members were involved.

Prof. Glyn Elwyn, Professor of the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice, the USA (also Adjunct Professor of the School), together with instructors from PolyU including Dr Kitty Chan (Teaching Fellow, School of Nursing) , Mr Alexander Woo (Senior Clinical Associate, the Department of Rehabilitation Sciences), Mr Bobby Shiu, Clinical Associate, the Department of Health Technology and Informatics) introduced the concept and model of shared decision making and elaborated how to build interprofessional collaborative practice. In addition, renowned experts in various health care fields shared their experience on interprofessional collaboration.

The 7-week free online course was delivered via the edX platform and was open to global audiences. It was listed as one of the “must take” courses in edX. The course recorded a high enrollment of over 1,400 learners and over 40% were global learners (as of 30 September).

Instructors used the best scientific evidence available to teach and prepare students to engage patients in decision-making, using strategies to integrate patients’ preferences during treatment planning. They also shared their interprofessional collaborative experience, discussed effective ways for coordination of care to meet health needs and elaborated innovative strategies that promote collaboration among healthcare allies.

Dr Kitty Chan, one of the instructors, said that during the course, a case study delivered in the form of documentary drama took students through a patient’s journey to experience challenges in recovery. “The drama stimulated students to think about the concepts and significance of shared decision making and interprofessional collaboration to achieve optimal health outcomes for patients.” Said Dr Kitty Chan.

The learners commented that the concept of shared decision making is worth advocating as it promotes the respect of patients’ autonomy and the balance beween scientific evidence and patients’ preferences. The majority of the learners responded to the on-line polling questions by expressing that they enjoyed the course, learnt a lot, and would recommend the course to their friends.

PolyU is an institutional partner of the edX Consortium, an e-educational platform founded by Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University. HKPolyUx is an online platform established to facilitate online learning.

Details of Shared Decision Making and Interprofessional Collaboration in Health Care, please click here.