WP1 Final project report:Improving the continuity of patient care through teaching and researching novel patient handover processes in Europe

Abstract

This report contains the complete project reporting of the PATIENT project from October 2012 until end of March 2015. It provides a summary of all project activities and achievements that are based on the previous WP deliverables such as the project progress reports from WP1 (D1.01) and the quality assurance reports from WP6 (D6.01). This report therefore presents an overview about empirical studies of the stakeholder needs analysis, as conducted in WP2 (D2.01), and the learning outcomes study for the handover study module of WP3 (D3.01). It also shows an outline of the handover curriculum as produced in WP4 (D4.01) that got translated from English into German as well as Spanish with all three versions being available for public use on the project website. In addition to the handover curriculum from WP4, this report also describes the developed tools for handover training such as the award- winning CLAS and e-DL app, the SimHand app, the Handover toolbox 2.0, a handover e- Learning course, and the PATIENT pocket cards. The handover curriculum and the training tools have been implemented and evaluated in WP5 in three University pilot studies in Spain, Germany, and Ireland This final report also roughly summarises some high level outcomes of those studies from the WP5 deliverable D5.01. The dissemination of the project (WP7) has been a key focus of the consortium since the project started. In the last years, the PATIENT project has developed a strong online presence, with the website being the central point for the distribution of contents and events as well as using various social media channels as reported in D7.01. Until March 2015, the PATIENT project has published 2 journal articles, 14 conference presentations, provided 7 stakeholder workshops, and made 92 blog posts about the latest developments on the handover topic attracting over 15850 visitors from all over the world. With the latest developments the project will publish at least four more journal articles, two of which have already been submitted and are now already under review. Within the last four months the project has developed an exploitation strategy in WP8 to continue the fruitful cooperation among the consortium partners on the important handover topic. The consortium aims to establish a PATIENT foundation that will carry on to maintain and further develop the PATIENT training and tools (see D8.01). The final contribution of the PATIENT project is a thoroughly validated handover study module with advanced teaching and learning methods and tools which can be tailored to the needs of participating partners and other stakeholders across the EU. Those outcomes are unique and in high demand by the medical field