Change management in primary care: Design and evaluation of an internet-delivered course

Objectives: To deliver and evaluate an internet course in change management for primary care professionals. Design: A 12-week course delivered over the internet. Respondents were allocated into two groups: one had access to the course tutor individually, while the other could also communicate with the rest of the learner group. Learning outcomes were assessed by means of pre- and post-intervention questionnaires and by interviews with some participants. Subjects: 111 primary care professionals. Results: Subjects showed significant improvements on all learning outcomes. The group with access to the course tutor alone completed more units and had greater improvements in their learning outcomes. More of this group completed the course and completed a portfolio. Respondents who could communicate with other members of the group did not find this a positive experience. Conclusion: The internet can be used to deliver learning in change management to primary care professionals. Access to a discussion forum did not improve, and possibly impaired learning. More work is needed on the mentoring of internet learning.