Learning skills for group education

Strategies include honing listening skills

All teaching does not take place one on one. Therefore, Kaiser Permanente Northern California in Oakland has created classes that provide education skills for teaching groups of people. Staff who educate in a group setting are taught basic facilitation skills, such as how to listen to the audience. They also learn the key components of an effective presentation, which includes having an opening, middle, and closing so the audience can easily follow.

"We want group teaching to be interactive, so we give some techniques and strategies to capture the audience’s attention and involve them," says Robyn Hoban, MA, adult primary care training project manager for Regional Health Education at Kaiser Permanente.

During the training, participants can have their classroom presentation videotaped so they can see where they might improve. They also receive one-on-one coaching on their style and presentation.

The workshop lasts two days. On the first day, participants are taught facilitation skills; on the second day, they do a presentation where they are videotaped and coached.

A second workshop is designed to help participants learn how to provide education during a group appointment. The group appointment is new at Kaiser, and is basically an education class type structure with a clinical intervention. For example, several diabetes patients would be given a group appointment and meet with a team of health care providers who present to the group, including a physician, clinical health educator, and pharmacist.

During these sessions, patients could have their medicine adjusted or learn how to manage their diet better. The medical professionals can use the patients as a group to solve problems. For example, if one patient is having difficulty exercising, the other members could explain what they do. "Group appointment training teaches professionals how to work as a team and also teaches them facilitation skills," says Hoban.