ABSTRACT
On August 29, 2021, the United States government oversaw the emergent establishment of Operation Allies Welcome (OAW), led by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and implemented by the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) and U.S. Department of State (DoS), to safely resettle U.S. citizens and Afghan nationals from Afghanistan to the United States. Evacuees were temporarily housed at several overseas locations in Europe and Asia* before being transported via military and charter flights through two U.S. international airports, and onward to eight U.S. military bases, with hotel A used for isolation and quarantine of persons with or exposed to certain infectious diseases.§ On August 30, CDC issued an Epi-X notice encouraging public health officials to maintain vigilance for measles among Afghan evacuees because of an ongoing measles outbreak in Afghanistan (25,988 clinical cases reported nationwide during January-November 2021) (1) and low routine measles vaccination coverage (66% and 43% for the first and second doses, respectively, in 2020) (2).
Subject(s)
Communicable Diseases , Measles , Communicable Diseases/epidemiology , Disease Outbreaks/prevention & control , Humans , Measles/epidemiology , Measles/prevention & control , Public Health , United States/epidemiology , VaccinationABSTRACT
Many dementia-friendly social programs were adapted to online delivery due to the COVID pandemic. Hasty adaptations make it unclear how to design these programs to capture the benefits of online delivery and face-to-face interactions. To understand the complexities of program delivery, we interviewed program coordinators and held focus groups with people living with dementia (PLWD) and their informal carers. We applied an interdependence framework to examine how the relationships between individuals affect program benefits. We found that interdependencies within an organization related to finances and networking are key and that organizational and individual interdependencies converge during program delivery. Our findings suggest these two interdependencies could influence one another more effectively if technology, like video conferencing, were designed to account for it. We discuss how an expanded notion of interdependency for the design of technology helps expand inclusivity in accessible social programs. © 2022 ACM.
ABSTRACT
Background Health workers (HWs) in Africa face challenges accessing and learning from existing online training opportunities. To address these challenges, we developed a modular, self-paced, mobile-ready and work-relevant online course covering foundational infection prevention and control (IPC) concepts. Here, we evaluate the first pilot of this course, conducted with HWs in Nigeria. Methods We used a learner-centered design and prototyping process to create a new approach to delivering online training for HWs. The resulting course comprised 10 self-paced modules optimized for use on mobile devices. Modules presented IPC vignettes in which learning was driven by short assessment questions with feedback. Learners were recruited by distributing a link to the training through Nigeria-based email lists, WhatsApp groups and similar networks of HWs, managers and allied professionals. The course was open to learners for 8 weeks. We tracked question responses and time on task with platform analytics and assessed learning gains with pre- and post-testing. Significance was evaluated with the Wilcoxon signed-rank test, and effect size was calculated using Cohen’s d. Results Three hundred seventy-two learners, with roles across the health system, enrolled in the training;59% completed all 10 modules and earned a certificate. Baseline knowledge of foundational IPC concepts was low, as measured by pre-test scores (29%). Post-test scores were significantly higher at 54% (effect size 1.22, 95% confidence interval 1.00-1.44). Learning gains were significant both among learners with low pre-test scores and among those who scored higher on the pre-test. We used the Net Promoter Score (NPS), a common user experience metric, to evaluate the training. The NPS was + 62, which is slightly higher than published scores of other self-paced online learning experiences. Conclusions High completion rates, significant learning gains and positive feedback indicate that self-paced, mobile-ready training that emphasizes short, low-stakes assessment questions can be an effective, scalable way to train HWs who choose to enroll. Low pre-test scores suggest that there are gaps in IPC knowledge among this learner population.