Using a questionnaire-based approach to determine alignment of a digital capability framework for health and social care to the MPharm degree programme at Queen’s University Belfast

The All-Ireland Digital Capability Framework (AIDCF) for Health and Social Care has been developed given the need for healthcare professionals to demonstrate appropriate levels of digital competency across multiple domains of their practice.[1] Moreover, the 2021 Standards for the initial education and training of pharmacists require students to use ‘digital technologies to improve clinical outcomes.’[2] As there is no national digital capability syllabus for MPharm programmes, it is important to compare our content to the AIDCF. To map the AIDCF to the Queen’s University Belfast (QUB) MPharm Degree Programme, ascertaining alignment, and enabling relevant gaps to be identified and quantified. AIDCF[1] domains were redesigned into a questionnaire without changing wording. Yes/no questions ascertained module coverage of domains. If covered (yes), a free text question obtained more detail. The questionnaire was provided to module coordinators alongside rationale and the AIDCF. Submitted data were automatically collected into a Microsoft Excel workbook. Concordance analysis was undertaken by the primary researcher (HS), who verified free-text responses for agreement with the coordinator’s yes/no selection. The research lead (DC) accuracy checked 10% of processed data. A module that mapped to ≥1 relevant capability statement(s) was counted as mapping to the whole domain. Data were sense-checked by the Director of Education (LH). Discrepancies were resolved through a consensus discussion with another reviewer (MH) and the dataset finalised. Fig. 1 shows alignment to the AIDCF (and an example of a mapped activity) with alignment seen across all domains. Lowest levels of alignment were supporting problem solving in practice (Domain 5.3) and leadership within organisation (Domain 2.2). The current substantial alignment with the AIDCF is encouraging to QUB educators. While changes will be made to address the low prevalence of problem solving, the organisational leadership domain is of lower implementation priority. The approach taken was a strength (in comparison to simply reviewing data from top line programme documentation). Limitations centre on the ‘meeting’ of a domain being subjective. Other organisations with pharmacy training responsibilities should conduct similar exercises to ensure digital development needs of their workforces are met.