The effect of online educational intervention based on the Extended Theory of Reasoned Action on interpersonal communication skills of health care workers

Objective (S): Personal communication between health care providers and clients is one of the most important factors affecting the satisfaction of clients from comprehensive health service centers. The present study was conducted with the aim of evaluating the effect of virtual training based on the theory of Reasoned Action developed on the interpersonal communication skills of health care workers in Ahvaz city. Methods: This intervention study was conducted on 88 health care providers in Ahvaz, Iran (44 people in the test group and 44 people in the control group) in 2021. The data were collected before and 2 months after the intervention by using a questionnaire including items on the theory of Reasoned Action constructs and a questionnaire assessing the interpersonal communication skills. The educational content was provided to the test group in a virtual environment using the WhatsApp during 12 sessions each lasting for 60 minutes. In order to analyze the data, SPSS software version 24 and descriptive and inferential statistical tests were used. Results: The average score of the constructs of the theory of Reasoned Action in the test group compared to the control group increased significantly after the intervention. Also, the interpersonal communication skills in the test group increased significantly after the intervention compared to the control group. The most change was related to attitude and behavior and the least change was related to subjective norms. Conclusion: Training based on the theory of rational action developed virtually using social network (WhatsApp) was effective in improving the interpersonal communication skills of health care providers. It seems that the implementation of such training programs can be useful for increasing the interpersonal communication skills of health care providers.