In conflict and post-conflict situations, there are multiple barriers to the sustainable delivery of P&O education. These include lack of local teachers, language, varying education levels and closed borders preventing students from training overseas. Blended Learning enables us, as educators, to overcome these obstacles and take ISPO-accredited training to the students, building sustainable P&O capacity from the ground up.
Blended Learning Education delivers academic / theoretical content through interactive, multimedia modules; enhanced by onsite, hands-on clinical training. While they are learning, students are active practitioners delivering P&O services - immediately implementing their newly-acquired skills with their patients. On-the-job training is the cornerstone of this delivery model.
Human Study first piloted our Blended Learning model in Southeast Europe in 2005, as an innovative solution for building sustainable capacity in P&O services after the war in the former Yugoslavia. Over 20 years, we have utilised technological advances and progressive didactic models to develop Blended Learning Education in P&O into an incredibly powerful tool that meets international standards and delivers impact that is sustainable.
This symposium will present the successful development and implementation of Blended Learning Education in P&O in more than 50 countries over the past 20 years. We will reflect on lessons learned, using case studies from Syria, Iraq and Ukraine; demonstrate the sustainable, scalable impact of this method; and provide a future perspective showing how the Blended Learning model - developed as a humanitarian intervention - has the potential to revolutionise P&O education everywhere.
Statement of the objective / learning objectives
An overview of the development, implementation, process, advantages and impact of Blended Learning as a method of delivering P&O education to international standards. Case studies will illustrate Blended Learning’s innovative, scalable and sustainable aspects.
