ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To develop an online certification program for nutrition education paraprofessionals to increase knowledge and confidence and to overcome training barriers of programming time and travel expenses. DESIGN: An online interactive certification course based on Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program-Education and Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program core competencies was delivered to employees of both programs. Traditional vs online training was compared. Course content validity was determined through expert review by registered dietitians. Parameters studied included increase of nutrition knowledge and teaching technique/ability, educator satisfaction, and programming costs related to training. SETTING: Utah State University Extension. PARTICIPANTS: Twenty-two Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program-Education and Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program educators in Utah. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Knowledge and skills were measured using pre/posttest statistics. Participant satisfaction was measured with a survey. ANALYSIS: Paired t test; satisfaction survey. RESULTS: The change in paraprofessional knowledge score was statistically significant (P < .001). Forty percent of paraprofessionals strongly agreed and 60% agreed they were better prepared as nutrition educators because of the training. An estimated $16,000 was saved by providing the training online as compared to a face-to-face training. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: This interactive online program is a cost-effective way to increase paraprofessional knowledge and job satisfaction.
Subject(s)
Certification , Education, Distance/methods , Health Education/methods , Health Educators/psychology , Nutritional Sciences/education , Adult , Cost-Benefit Analysis , Education, Distance/economics , Female , Health Education/economics , Humans , Internet , Job Satisfaction , Male , Program Development/methods , UtahABSTRACT
Recent literature on racial disparities in HIV/AIDS and effective HIV/AIDS health service delivery efforts has underscored the importance of cultural sensitivity, relevance and competence in reducing such disparities and providing effective health service delivery. Less work has been done on the role of cultural competence in the delivery of effective HIV/AIDS prevention programs, perhaps because few such prevention programs aimed at minority populations have to date been demonstrated as effective. This article surveys the various ways that the concept of cultural competence has been studied, extends the concept to the field of HIV/AIDS prevention, and presents a simple-to-use instrument that operationalizes the concept for use with HIV/AIDS prevention programs. The article also explores the idea of evaluation readiness among HIV/AIDS prevention programs in the hope of eventually enlarging the pool of minority-focused HIV/AIDS programs demonstrated as effective. The resultant tool can serve as a research-based framework that: (a) serves as a cost-effective way to select promising programs--especially promising minority-focused programs-for rigorous outcome evaluation; (b) advances the field of HIV/AIDS prevention research by providing a conceptual framework for studying the relationship between cultural competence and program effectiveness; and (c) serves as a framework for building capacity in HIV/AIDS prevention programs, pointing to ways in which such programs can be strengthened.
