Enhancing care: evaluating the impact of True North Sexual Health and Rehabilitation eTraining for healthcare providers working with prostate cancer patients and partners.

Abstract

Background: Educational programs that enhance healthcare providers' competence in managing the care of patients with sexual dysfunction following prostate cancer treatments are needed to facilitate comprehensive sexual health treatments for patients and their partners.

Aim: In this study we evaluated the impact of a real-world online sexual health educational intervention called the True North Sexual Health and Rehabilitation eTraining Program. This program is designed to increase healthcare providers' knowledge and self-efficacy in providing sexual healthcare to prostate cancer patients and their partners.

Methods: Healthcare providers were invited to join a 12-week virtual training program. Participants completed precourse surveys (n = 89), retrospective prepost surveys (n = 58), and a 3-month follow-up survey (subset n = 18) to assess retention of relevant outcomes. Additionally, a course satisfaction survey was administered to participants (n = 57) at the end of the course.

Outcomes: The main outcomes focused on participants' perceived knowledge and self-efficacy in conducting assessments and providing interventions for various relevant physical, functional, psychological, and relational domains of sexual dysfunction in prostate cancer patients and their partners.

Results: According to the retrospective analysis of post-then-pre-survey results, graduates perceived that their knowledge of and self-efficacy in providing sexual health counseling improved after completing the course. The 3-month follow-up survey indicated that the course graduate self-efficacy remained high 3 months after the course. Furthermore, the satisfaction survey indicated that a vast majority (98.2%) of participants were satisfied with the educational intervention.

Clinical implications: This real-world sexual health educational intervention can increase self-efficacy and knowledge in healthcare providers who are supporting prostate cancer patients dealing with sexual dysfunction.

Strengths and limitations: The use of a retrospective post-then-pre-survey helped to mitigate response shift bias while minimizing data gaps. However, it is important to note that this investigation was not a traditional research study and lacked a control group, thus limiting causal attributions.

Conclusion: The True North Sexual Health and Rehabilitation eTraining program acts as an accessible and effective resource for healthcare providers seeking specialized training in providing sexual healthcare for prostate cancer patients and their partners.