Development and evaluation of a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) for healthcare professionals on malnutrition in older adults

• Published in: Nurse education today 2023-04, Vol.123, p.105741-105741, Article 105741
• Main Author: Eglseer, D.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aged; Curriculum; Education; Healthcare professionals; Malnutrition; MOOC; Nurses
• ISSN: 0260-6917; 1532-2793
• DOI: 10.1016/j.nedt.2023.105741

Education about malnutrition in older adults is often lacking in the curricula of healthcare professionals. Massive open online courses (MOOCs) are an innovative form of education that can potentially improve the knowledge of healthcare professionals. (1) to describe the development of a MOOC on malnutrition in older adults and (2) to evaluate the MOOC on the basis of knowledge gained. The MOOC was developed by following a structured approach. For the evaluation of the MOOC, a cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted. Overall, 1288 nurses, dietitians, medical doctors and other healthcare professionals participated in the evaluation study. After performing a comprehensive literature review, two dietitians specialised in geriatrics developed a summary of potentially important content of the MOOC. Nine European malnutrition experts from different professional areas were then asked to contribute their expertise. The specific MOOC content was developed based on the recent literature and evidence-based guidelines. For the evaluation of the MOOC, a questionnaire with 41 questions was developed. Results were analysed using descriptive statistics and chi-square tests. The final MOOC consists of five modules with 15 learning videos and supplementary material. The percentage of persons with good malnutrition knowledge increased from 76.1 % to 89.9 % (p