Person-centred care education in practice: Students’ and academics’ evaluation of a postgraduate radiography module

BACKGROUND: Person-centred care (PCC) is fundamental to contemporary radiography practice. However, limited educational opportunities exist to enable radiographers to embed PCC in their practice, as most learning is assumed to occur while practising. To fill this gap, and ensure customised knowledge for specific patient groups, a postgraduate PCC-focused module for radiographers covered person-centeredness philosophy and practice. The aim of this study was to explore and describe the experiences of students and educators who participated in a postgraduate PCC-focused module. METHODS: This study employed a participatory action research (PAR) design. The sample comprised ten students and six faculty members who completed an online qualitative survey on Qualtrics. Additional qualitative data was collected using Mentimeter's word cloud. The qualitative survey data were analysed using Tesch's eight steps of coding. The word cloud was interpreted using literature to compare student participants' responses with literary meanings of PCC. Diffusion of innovations theory was employed as a theoretical framework to understand how educational innovation can enable personal and organisational change over time. FINDINGS: Four themes were generated: 1) stimulating a culture of person-centred care for both patients and staff, 2) module aspects that limited relatability and learning, 3) the ideal person-centred care module: suggestions for improvement, and 4) becoming champions of person-centred care: reflections on module impact. CONCLUSIONS: The participants experienced this PCC module as empowering and motivating, as it provided them with practical strategies to embed PCC in their everyday practice for different patient groups. it is hoped that this module can serve as the basis for similar educational provisions in other academic institutions and geographical locations in the future.