CoHD Health Professional Education Platform
The CoHD Health Professional Education Platform is a digital, self-paced suite of education modules, co-designed with a range of clinical subject matter experts, for health professionals who care for people impacted by CoHD, including: cardiac specialists, primary care, allied health, mental health and other health care professionals.
Create a login and begin learning here!
Current topics available
- Exercise and CoHD (learner audiences include Cardiologists, Cardiothoracic surgeons, Primary Care, Exercise Scientists and Physiotherapists)
- Transition of care
Coming soon!
- NDIS and CoHD
- Communicating with children and their carers
- Engaging and supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples
- Primary care and CoHD
- Neurodevelopment
- New content ongoing!
All Clinical Education resources are aligned with the Australian National Standards of Care for CoHD and, where possible, are accredited by relevant professional bodies. New learning modules will be continuously rolled out, with the project currently funded until the end of 2024.
Finding relevant education
Within the online platform, content is delivered by subject and then split into separate topics (modules) targeted to specific learner cohorts. This means, for example, that the content for cardiologist on exercise in CoHD will be different to that for a GP.
To help you find appropriately targeted materials, you'll be asked to select your healthcare role when you create your login. This way, you'll only see modules that are relevant to you. You can also further filter these modules by subject, such as Exercise or Neurodevelopment.
The education is designed to accommodate different learning styles and utilises video presentations and interactive tools as well as providing learning tasks and formal assessments when required. The online delivery means education can be carried out at the learners own pace. Modules can also be downloaded as PDFs for future reference.
Practical supports are embedded in the learning which can also be downloaded and are provided in the form of:
- Care and referral pathways
- Patient targeted factsheets
- Links to patient targeted supports
- Clinical checklists
- Other supportive resources
Co-design with experts
Co-design was crucial part of the development of this education to ensure its relevance and efficacy. Stakeholder partnerships, in the form of working groups, were created to ensure the CoHD community were involved with the development of resources. This included:
- Individuals impacted by CoHD
- Healthcare professionals from CoHD related areas
- Professional bodies
- Government and non-government organisations
Working group members were selected for their special interest and expertise in the specific area of learning to be developed.
Focus of education
Within the Action Plan eight priority areas for education of the health workforce were identified:
- Patient and family-centred care for people with CoHD
- Physical, psychological, social and cognitive impacts of CoHD
- Co-morbidities, including neurological impairment
- Culturally safe and appropriate communication and counselling techniques
- Support for health professionals to minimise burnout and compassion fatigue
- Referral pathways
- Improving knowledge of primary care doctors, nursing staff and general paediatricians and cardiologists about the special needs of people with CoHD
- Improving knowledge of nursing, allied health practitioners as well as personnel providing patient services and support about the needs of CoHD patients, families and carers.
Each education topic within the CoHD Health Professional Education Platform aims to address as many of these priority education areas as possible and will be aligned with the Australian Standards of Care for CoHD..
These resources are designed to complement and build upon the extensive knowledge and existing tools within the healthcare community. Priority has been given to areas of known disadvantage, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, young adults transitioning from paediatric to adult health services, and people living in remote, rural, or regional locations.
Background
The CoHD Health Professional Education Platform is a part of the HeartKids’ Health Professional Education Project (Education Project) which commenced in February 2021, funded by the Commonwealth Department of Health.
The objective of the Education Project is to develop a suite of resources for health professionals that support integrated, quality health care for all stages of the CoHD care pathway.
This project is a part of the National Strategic Action Plan for Childhood Heart Disease (Action Plan).
More information
For more information on the Education Project or to enquire about participating in a working group, please contact:
Mark Edmonds
Education Project Coordinator
mark.edmonds@heartkids.org.au