Photo Credit: Vadimguzhva

CoCoCare, a cost-conscious neurology care training program, successfully prepared residents to develop clinical guidelines and use them in clinical settings.

Neurology residents reported feeling capable of critically appraising clinical practice guidelines and applying them in practice after participating in a cost-conscious care training program called CoCoCare. Researchers described the program and participant feedback in Neurology Education.

“The objective of the CoCoCare training is 2-fold: (1) to teach residents the basics of developing and implementing high-quality, evidence-based guidelines, and (2) to equip residents with the competences to work in a cost-conscious manner,” Daniëlle Verstegen, PhD, and colleagues wrote.

The training included six e-learning modules, workshops, and a series of online assignments that replicated the steps of developing a clinical practice guideline. In the pilot run, which ran from June 2019 through June 2020, a workshop day with in-person lectures and exercises took place at the European Academy of Neurology (EAN) conference. The second run occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic, requiring online workshops to replace the workshop day.

The program’s main assignment involved identifying a clinical problem within neurology practice in need of a guideline. With the help of local supervisors, residents were expected to take the necessary steps to develop the guideline. Participants could present their draft guidelines in poster presentations at the EAN conference.

Program’s Success Evident in Residents

The training’s pilot run included 22 neurology residents from 16 countries. Five participants presented the guidelines they developed at the online EAN conference in 2020.

The training’s second run, from September 2020 through June 2021, included 33 neurology residents from 14 counties. Thirteen participants presented their guidelines at the online EAN conference in 2021.

According to Dr. Verstegen and colleagues, feedback indicated that the training met its objectives. Participants reported feeling prepared to participate in the development of clinical practice guidelines. Moreover, they were comfortable critically appraising guidelines and were inspired to apply them in practice. Meanwhile, CoCoCare trainers said they observed participants’ knowledge grow throughout the program.

“Participants especially appreciated the active (assignments) and authentic learning in the practical part of the training, but the workload of the assignments in combination with clinical work was a challenge,” the researchers reported. “They also enjoyed the collaborative learning in an international group of residents but asked for more interaction and support during the period dedicated to assignments.”