Adaptation of the "Challenges for Giants [Reto para Gigantes]" Model in Hospital Classrooms at the Hospital Universitario del Valle

Abstract

Many hospitals currently have classrooms designed to ensure a continuous educational process for students who, for various reasons, must remain in hospital rooms for an extended period of time. These classrooms have pedagogical guidelines and models aimed at addressing the educational and medical needs of the children and adolescents who attend class while being hospitalized. Some research has shown that prolonged stays in these environments can have detrimental effects on infants. This is why they are seen as a means to implement strategies that help mitigate the situation and prevent school dropout. The purpose of this research was to propose a comprehensive care pathway using the pedagogical model "Challenges for Giants: Navigating Knowledge [“Retos para Gigantes: Transitando por el saber”] " in hospital classrooms at the Hospital Universitario del Valle (HUV) in the city of Cali. The research employed a qualitative approach with an action research design. Structured interviews were used for data collection, revealing that the activities described in the model needed to be appropriately adjusted to the HUV classroom context. As a result, a proposal was made to modify the guidebooks by implementing a comprehensive care pathway that specifically addresses the needs of students. This ensures that the recommendations made for students in hospital rooms are suitable for their specific circumstances and limitations. The development of the care pathway led to significant findings; which include the identification of the need for a pedagogical model that incorporates context-specific activities for each student. Additionally, it highlighted the importance of training educators to enable them to provide continuous education in any environment where the child or adolescent may be. Furthermore, collaboration with healthcare professionals was found to be crucial in facilitating coordinated operations, which allowed for the implementation of methods that addressed not only the medical but also the educational sphere. Finally, a comprehensive care pathway was proposed, aligning the model established by the Ministry of Education with the educational-hospital context as a viable alternative at HUV.