Project Title

HIV & Pregnancy: Education for Healthcare Professionals ‘Prepared to Care’

Research Focus:

Maternal and Child Health

Funder & Duration

Knowledge Transfer Award from the HSC R&D Division

Principal Investigator or Primary Supervisor

Dr Carmel Kelly

Chief Investigators or additional supervisors

Professor Fiona Alderdice

Professor Maria Lohan

Dr Dale Spence

Research Fellow(s) or PhD Student

Dr Esther Reid

Name & Institution of Collaborators

Name of External Partner Organisations

HSC R&D Division Public Health Agency

Description of Project

HIV & Pregnancy – Prepared To Care is a web based educational resource which aims to prepare health care professionals to better understand the care needs of HIV affected women, and their partners, from reproductive decision-making to post-natal care. This evidence based resource has been developed, in partnership with practitioners, by a project team within the School of Nursing and Midwifery at Queen’s University Belfast.

This project, supported by the Public Health Agency, sought to translate the qualitative evidence from research undertaken in Northern Ireland, into educational material for maternity care practice.  While the resource incorporates key medical information, an equally important focus, and the innovative feature of this project, is the way in which the qualitative findings of our study bring to life patient and partner experiences and what it means for nurses, midwives and doctors to be prepared to care for couples affected by HIV.  Narrative scripts were written based on the original research interviews, with care taken to reflect the key themes from the research. 

Throughout the resource evidence-based information and guidance on HIV management is presented alongside interviews with key healthcare professionals, and the vignettes from the research re-telling real life stories is presented by actors. There are in total 26 video clips of 8 actors and 4 healthcare professionals. The resource offers the user the choice of a short 2 module course or a more detailed 6 module course. The target audience is primarily maternity care staff but it will also be appropriate for other professional groups. The modules follow the reproductive journey from deciding to have a baby, antenatal diagnosis, impact of HIV on pregnancy and finally obstetric management in pregnancy. On completion of either 2 or 6 modules, and after a brief self-assessment, users will have the opportunity to print a certificate of completion.

Associated with the project.

Add links/URLs to external pages, e.g., reports, publications

http://www.qub.ac.uk/elearning/hiv-and-pregnancy/

Any other relevant information