Calipso is an independent product and is not associated with any healthcare company. It was created by Dr Chris Williams whilst senior lecturer of Psychiatry at Leeds University's School of Medicine, together with University colleagues Dr Pat Harkin and Professor David Cottrell.

The training packages were initially developed for use by medical students with a grant from the Teaching and Learning arm of the University of Leeds. However, it quickly became clear that qualified health care professionals could benefit from such materials.

The Multimedia division of Leeds Innovations (the University's technology transfer company), was approached to help organise the technical and commercial development required to effectively disseminate the materials.

The power of multimedia is that it allows the presentation of clinical cases and information in an interactive manner. This is particularly important in mental health presentations because the diagnosis is dependant upon the words spoken by the patient coupled with their appearance and behaviour. The interaction between the patient and the interviewer is the main focus of patient assessment and provides an ideal medium for the development of multimedia clinical case studies.

Whilst new technology does not necessarily equate to effective educational training, Calipso has been developed to integrate innovative multimedia approaches with proven teaching techniques. Examples of the different interactive learning styles used in the Calipso packages include:

• Video demonstrations by a subject expert e.g. of a clinical assessment, or a video of a relaxation technique being taught to a patient.
• Video demonstrations of clinical problems: e.g. a patient showing mental signs or reporting symptoms. Interpreting the presentation and deciding which further questions or investigations are appropriate.
• Carrying out a simulated procedure, e.g. Mental State Examination. The process of Mental State Examination can be taught by splitting the task down into several focused tasks which are then completed in a structured way. For example, the appearance and behaviour of a patient can be assessed by requiring the user to respond to questions based on a short video clip (e.g. is their appearance neat, dishevelled etc.?). Further video clips allow the user to rate other aspects such as the mood state. This forces the user to make active decisions about when a finding is pathological or not. The user can then compare their own ratings of symptoms with those agreed by a cohort of senior professionals in the field. This allows users to gradually develop and refine their own thresholds for rating symptoms - an important skill to gain.
• Making a diagnosis: although predominantly made by doctors, an understanding of the principles and meaning of diagnoses is useful for other professional groups as well. The Calipso packages ask the user to make a diagnosis based on all the information available to them. They are then given specific feedback as to whether their response is correct, and the reasons supporting or refuting each diagnosis in turn. Additional information such as ICD-109 definitions can also be examined if required by the user.

The authors:
Dr Chris Williams is currently Senior Lecturer in Psychiatry in the Department of Psychological Medicine at the University of Glasgow. He is the first author of a number of interactive computer-based training modules for healthcare professionals and students. He is President of the British Association of Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies (BABCP) and is a member of the Psychotherapy Faculty Executive of the Royal College of Psychiatrists.

Dr Pat Harkin is a Lecturer in the Division of Clinical Sciences, School of Medicine, University of Leeds. He is also head of the University's Interactive Medical Resource and is a skilled computer programmer with 15 years' experience of developing CBT materials for use in undergraduate and post-graduate training. He has been involved with several national computer-based learning projects, including the Wellcome Trust's Tropical Medicine Resource (TMR) and the Computers in Teaching Initiative Centre for Medicine (CTICM).

Professor David Cottrell is Professor of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and is Chair of the Undergraduate Medical Education Committee at the University of Leeds.

Stephen Taylor Parker
Head of Multimedia
Leeds Innovations
175 Woodhouse Lane
Leeds, LS2 3AR,

Tel: 0113 233 3444
Fax: 0113 234 3811
email: s.taylor-parker@leedsinnovations.co.uk
website: http://www.leedsinnovations.co.uk

 

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