Instructional Design, eLearning Development, Learning Experience Design
Headaches -Not Always in Your Head
Virtual Instructor-Led Training (VILT)
Analysis
Everybody gets headaches. In fact, about 1 out of every 6 people regularly complain about headaches. According to the Migraine Research Foundation, migraines are the 3rd most prevalent illness in the world. Where this is becoming a challenge is that productivity loss due to headaches suffered in the workplace may be quite substantial. Many people say they miss work due to headaches and according to recent polls, most are not telling their employers the reason for their absence. This is probably because of the lack of awareness of how impairing a headache may be. An estimated 31% of adults with migraines report losing at least one day of work in the prior three months and are absent an average of 10.7 days per year due to their headache symptoms (Kessler, Shahly, Stang, & Lane, 2010; Lipton, Stewart, Diamond, Diamond, & Reed, 2001). Let’s also consider the employees who choose to stay at work and suffer through a headache but are not productive and are not fully able to get their work done. Clearly, headaches pose a problem to employee health and productivity.
Challenge
Staff productivity is impacted by the number of headaches that are experienced. Additionally, awareness of the impact of headaches on workplace productivity is low.
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Objective
By the end of this training, participants will be able to recognize a benign type of headache versus a serious headache. Participants will be able to identify a few options to lessen benign headache pain and frequency. Overall organization awareness of headache prevalence and impact will increase.
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Tools
Articulate Rise 360
Canva
WellSaid Labs
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Highlights
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7 sections
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Introduction Video
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Interactive scenario engagement piece
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3 knowledge checks
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Instructor guided interactive process
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Discussion wrap up
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One of the issues that needs to be addressed is the potential lack of employee validation regarding headaches being a valid concern. Then, gaps in knowledge must be filled in for both the employee and the employer on headaches: Specifically, being able to identify benign headaches from those that need medical attention, awareness on the impact of headaches, and options that employees can have for resolving benign headaches. This training will in turn increase organization awareness of headaches and arm the employees with knowledge. This knowledge will help employees to either seek help from a medical provider should their headaches be serious or have some tools to be able to self-manage benign headaches. This will lead to an increase in work productivity and/or reduce work absences.
Design development
I designed and developed this course from start to finish. To accomplish this, I created an action map, and a design plan, developed a prototype, and then the final product.
It is important that the entire organization get an awareness of headaches and the impact they can have on productivity.
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The learning objectives for this course are as follows:
After completion of the course, the learner will be able to distinguish a benign headache from a serious headache, and will be able to have options for self-management of the headache. The learner will also gain awareness of the impact that headaches can have on productivity in the workplace.
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This is a virtual instructor-led training, so I will be guiding learners through the course and adding my thoughts as we progress. The preference for this course is to have no more than 20 people present in order to stimulate participation and rich discussion. The course will conclude with a whole class virtual discussion. There will be 6 short modules in this course. Each module will flow seamlessly into the next. The training will not last more then 30 minutes so that the learner can stay engaged and retain the information.
Action map
7 course sections
The course will be designed in Rise 360. There will be a short scenario to introduce the course- this is meant to engage the learners and introduce them to what they will be learning about. Throughout the course, there will be 3 knowledge checks and a final whole-group discussion. There will be a guided whole-group activity on working out pressure points to help with headaches. The whole group discussion is there to assess the impact of the course. There will be 2-course aids provided with the course for the employees on types of headaches and one on applying trigger points to relieve headaches. These course aids can also be emailed out as reminders 2 weeks following the course to refresh learners of the information provided in the course.
60 days after course completion, a brief survey will be sent to employees asking if they are more comfortable with identifying their headaches and managing them.
4 months after course completion, the organization needs to analyze trends to see if employees who suffer from headaches are missing less time from work and if the productivity of the employees who were missing time has increased.