Comparing Virtual to In-Person Delivery of Continuing Medical Education in Dementia Care: Which Is Preferred?

A recent study compared in-person and virtual Booster Day interprofessional education (IPE) sessions for health professionals in primary care-based memory clinics, aiming to assess participants' future preferences for such sessions. Participants attended one of five annual IPE events: three delivered in-person immediately before the COVID-19 pandemic and two subsequently held virtually via videoconferencing. No significant differences in satisfaction, relevance, knowledge acquisition or intent to apply new knowledge were observed between in-person and virtual delivery. However, in-person sessions were preferred overall, with videoconferencing-based attendance generally rated as less enjoyable and having fewer opportunities for networking. The authors found that health professionals attending dementia-related education highly favor quality engagement and networking via in-person IPE. "IPE on complex health issues of the elderly requiring interprofessional perspectives may be best suited to in-person formats," they suggested.

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