Journal of Continuing Education in the Health Professions (09/28/23) Sachidanandan, Grahanya; Sud, Abhimanyu

Researchers created a mechanistic model to support deliberate continuing professional development (CPD) program development, coordination and evaluation by charting the causal relationships behind program outcomes. They tested and refined mechanisms identified in a previous realist synthesis of opioid agonist therapy CPD via purposive and opportunistic sampling and realist approaches. The authors then evaluated them against two systematic reviews of analgesic prescribing and palliative care programs. Mechanistic utility also underwent testing for organizing target learners and characterizing program logic modeling and delivery in environmentally sustainable healthcare CPD. The researchers reviewed 90 reports on 75 programs to establish five program mechanisms integrating current social, cognitive and behavioral hypotheses to assess the transferability of context-intervention-mechanism-outcome configurations and modify them to encompass a wider range of CPD programs when needed. The mechanisms included motivation transformation, expert influence, confidence development, self-efficacy facilitation through setting goals and institutional support and community of practice expansion. The researchers note, "There is no universal truth about CPD as a whole; it is heterogeneous, complex and context dependent, and must be considered as such by practitioners, researchers and policymakers."

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