Online safety training: where is the evidence that it’s effective?

Dr. Rosemary Godbold, Dr. Lisa Whiting, Honey-Anne Greco, Dr. Anthony Herbland

R.Godbold@herts.ac.uk

This week’s blog comes from the group in Hertfordshire who’ve been working to higher understand the effectiveness of web safety training.

Safeguarding training has all the time been a cornerstone of health and social care practice and has been mandatory for those working with at-risk people in all health, care and education settings¹. Child protection is a legal requirement (section 11 Children Act 2004)². Safeguarding training goals to develop a workforce that feels empowered to take appropriate motion when concerns are raised, so that individuals in danger throughout their lives are protected and receive the support they need. Safeguarding training is obtainable at different levels to reflect the range of health and social care staff, in addition to their different roles and responsibilities.

Within Great Britain [UK]Security training has traditionally been held on-site, however the Covid-19 pandemic, in addition to changes within the organization and launch of services, have resulted in a lot of the training being moved online. While online learning undoubtedly has many benefits, especially the flexibleness it offers participants, full engagement and learning are only possible when appropriate resources can be found, including good web access^3,4,5.

In the UK context, the effectiveness of fully online safety training (specifically its application in practice) has not previously been formally assessed, but evidence-based practice [EBP] requires it “health care decisions are based on the best available, current, valid and appropriate evidence” ⁶. With this in mind, in 2023 we were commissioned to judge online safety training delivered between 1 April 2021 and 31 March 2022 for a spread of frontline staff within the South East of England. During this era, 5,271 delegates from statutory and non-statutory agencies attended 190 training sessions on safeguarding adults and youngsters.

Evaluation study

A mixed-method evaluation approach was adopted; this included descriptive statistical evaluation of two,415 evaluation questionnaires, in addition to semi-structured interviews and mini focus groups with 13 employees who had received security training.

Overall, each quantitative and qualitative results showed that the training sessions met their objectives, with participants feeling that they’d not only improved their knowledge but, most significantly, had the arrogance and talent to use it to their practice. However, to maximise the effectiveness of online learning, the role and skills of the facilitator were found to be crucial. Participants in our study expressed a necessity for training sessions to incorporate engaging activities relevant to practice (e.g., illustrative case studies). Although some participants preferred face-to-face sessions, mainly attributable to higher communication, overall online streaming was preferred since it was convenient and time-efficient; nevertheless, suggestions were made to further improve the training (Figure 1).

To sum up,

Our participants assessed online learning very positively; It is value noting that they felt more able to reply to safeguarding issues as a part of their job responsibilities. The flexibility offered by a web based approach has been greatly appreciated and has been described elsewhere, particularly within the context of upper education⁷. Although some participants missed face-to-face conversations with colleagues, they felt that this could possibly be alleviated if the moderator used appropriate engagement techniques and if participants made every effort to deal with the training (and never, for instance, coping with emails).

Overall, our mixed methods evaluation approach provided clear evidence of the positive impact of web safety training, with participants explaining how “practice and then you will just feel more confident in dealing with whatever you are dealing with.” While online training will not be appropriate in all circumstances, evidence of its effectiveness means you can confidently select a training delivery method that is acceptable for the training subject, participants and facilitators.

Ethical approval for the evaluation was provided by the University of Hertfordshire Health, Science, Engineering and Technology Ethics Committee with delegated authority [protocol number: HSK/SF/UH/05377].

Reference

1. Skills for Health (2023) Why is protection so essential in healthcare? Available at https://www.skillsforhealth.org.uk/news/why-is-safeguarding-so-important-in-health-care/ Access 12^vol October 2024
2. Children Act (2004) Available at: https://www.laws.gov.uk/ukpga/2004/31/contents Accessed: October 12, 2024
3. Cullinan, J., Flannery, D., Harold, J., Lyons, S. and Palcic, D. (2021) The disconnected people: COVID-19 and disparities in access to high-quality broadband for higher education students. International Journal of Education Technology. 18(1) 26. doi: 10.1186/s41239-021-00262-1. Epub 2021, May 21. PMID: 34778524; PMCID: PMC8137268
4. Graves, J.M., Abshire, D.A., Amiri, S., Mackelprang, J.L. (2021) Disparities in Technology and Broadband Internet Access Across Rurality: Implications for health and education. Health of the family community. 44 section 4 257-265. doi:10.1097/FCH.0000000000000306
5. Ives, B. (2021) University students experience transition to distant learning triggered by Covid-19. International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education. 18(1) 59. doi:10.1186/s41239-021-00296-5
6. Critical Appraisal Skills Program (2024) What is evidence-based practice? Available from: https://casp-uk.net/news/what-is-evidence-based-practice/ Access 12^vol October 2024
7. Barber, M. (2021) Gravity Assisting: Driving Higher Education Towards a Brighter Future. Available from https://blobofsproduks.blob.core.windows.net/files/Gravity%20assist/Gravity-assist-DTL-finalforweb.pdf Access 12^vol October 2024

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