Dramatic Solutions showcase innovative Infection Control training at the University of Birmingham

Online, June 16, 2010 (Newswire.com) - Birmingham, 16th June 2010 - Dramatic Solutions in conjunction with the College of Medical and Dental Sciences at the University of Birmingham have created a series of unique infection control awareness training videos that will be showcased at the University on 22 June 2010.

In a bid to improve training of health professionals in cross infection control, the Nursing and Physiotherapy team at the University of Birmingham contracted Learning and Development film makers Dramatic Solutions to develop an innovative approach to improving the teaching of infection control in their curriculum.

Healthcare associated infections contribute to unnecessary suffering and anxiety for patients and represent a significant cost to the NHS. Many infections can be avoided through good cross infection control practices.

"Dramatic Solutions have created a unique series of training aids that will improve our teaching in the short term and remain relevant as part of our longer-term curriculum" commented Dr Jill Ramsay, Programme Director for the undergraduate Physiotherapy degree programme. "The videos have been created in a way that meets our strong ethic of inter-professional learning and will be used in teaching and as a basis for discussion, essays and presentations."

Colin Rote, Director at Dramatic Solutions added, "We are delighted how our 'drama in the workplace' approach has delivered a highly relevant and reusable training tool that will positively impact patient welfare and reduce costs".

Working with Nursing and Physiotherapy staff and students, together with actors, Dramatic Solutions developed five videos that examine the various elements of infection control, embedding CGI special effects to show infection spread and an interactive 'hazard perception test' with assessment to reinforce the learnings. The videos cover as many situations as possible, highlighting the invisible path of infection, from hands to walking frames to patients and on to the drug round and bed making. It is expected that a measurable improvement will be seen in the hand washing that students do before and after they go out on clinical placement.

Dramatic Solutions combine their background in drama with state of the art training and video production techniques to create learning experiences with workplace relevance that ensure engagement and retention. The approach has been successfully applied in a wide variety of industries including healthcare, finance and oil and gas.