Using Collaborative Online International Learning to Support Global Midwifery Education.

BACKGROUND AND LOCAL PROBLEM: The COVID-19 pandemic created a gap in global health learning, requiring creative solutions to bridge the divide. Collaborative online international learning (COIL) is a program between universities located in different geographic areas that aims to build cross-cultural learning and collaboration. INTERVENTION: Faculty members from Uganda and the United States worked collaboratively to plan a 2-session COIL activity for nursing and midwifery students. Twenty-eight students from the United States and Uganda participated in the pilot quality improvement project. MEASURES: Students completed a 13-question REDCap survey measuring satisfaction, time commitment for the activity, and increase in knowledge about differently resourced healthcare systems. Students also were asked to provide qualitative feedback in that survey. RESULTS: Survey results indicate a high level of satisfaction and an increased understanding of a new healthcare system. The majority of students wanted more scheduled activity times, the opportunity to meet face to face, and/or more robust sessions in the future. CONCLUSION: This COIL activity between students in the United States and Uganda was a no-cost activity that provided global health learning opportunities for students during the global pandemic. The COIL model is replicable, adaptable, and customizable for a variety of courses and time spans.

Going viral - capacity strengthening in the context of pandemic(s).

Strengthening the capacity of midwives and nurses in low- and middle-income countries to lead research is an urgent priority in embedding and sustaining evidence-based practice and better outcomes for women and newborns during childbearing. International and local travel restrictions, and physical distancing resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic have compromised the delivery of many existing programmes and challenged international partnerships working in maternal and newborn health to adapt rapidly. In this paper, we share the experiences of a midwife-led research partnership between Kenya, Malawi, Tanzania, Uganda, the UK, Zambia and Zimbabwe in sustaining and enhancing capacity strengthening activities remotely in this period. Whilst considerable challenges arose, and not all were overcome, collectively, we gained new insights and important learning which have shifted perspectives and will impact future design and delivery of learning programmes.