Evaluation of a consulting training course for international development assistance for health

Potential Capacity of China's development assistance for health on neglected tropical diseases

Neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) are important health problem in tropical and sub-tropical regions, which afflict more than a billion people worldwide and cause several million deaths every year, especially in Africa. The World Health Organization has called for global efforts to control and eliminate NTDs. China began its health assistance program from 1950s, especially on medical mission dispatched to more than 50 African countries. In this study, a SWOT analysis was used to analyze the current strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of China's health assistance relating to NTDs, in order to provide the recommendation to promote the activities on international assistance and cooperation on NTDs. Based on this analysis, interventions for NTDs and suggestions for future cooperation relating to NTDs are proposed. In the context of global health, China should strengthen and improve the capacity on health assistance for NTDs control.

Establishing competency-based measures for Department of Veterans Affairs post-graduate nurse practitioner residencies

BACKGROUND

In the past decade, numerous nurse residency models have been created and implemented nationwide; however, validated specialty-specific competency standards have not been established to evaluate Nurse Practitioner (NP) resident core competencies.

PURPOSE

To report the specialty-specific competency assessment tool devised to assess Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) NP residents' competencies and discuss the VA NP residency program's effectiveness in expanding new graduate NP knowledge and skills in the veteran-centric care setting.

METHODS

The VA Nursing Academic Partnership NP residency faculty established and piloted a web-based Nurse Practitioner Resident Competency Assessment (NPRCA) instrument for the comprehensive, specialty-specific assessment of individual NP resident's skill competencies across 24 areas.

RESULTS

The VA specialty-specific competency assessment instrument demonstrates strong internal consistency. The robust VA NP residency program enhances new graduate NP competencies.

CONCLUSIONS

The VA NP residency model can further the goal of standardizing clinical competencies in NP residency programs.

What Is the Impact of a Context-Specific Training Program for Home-Based Carers? An Evaluation Study

Introduction: In South Africa (SA), home-based carers (HBCs) play a crucial role at the community level for non-communicable diseases (NCDs) including diabetes mellitus (DM) public health care. The work of HBCs requires them to be knowledgeable about diabetes, and lack of knowledge has implications on their roles for the provision of health information and dietary advice. HBCs need to be provided with specific training to develop their knowledge and skills necessary to enable them to provide care to people with diabetes (PWD) because organizations need to benefit from a pool of well-trained HBCs. Therefore, a training program was developed to improve care for chronic conditions based on local needs. Aim: To implement and evaluate the training program for the HBCs for PWD in Ga-Dikgale village. Methods: HBCs working at Ga- Dikgale villages in four clinics—namely, Dikgale, Seobi Dikgale, Sebayeng, and Makotopong—participated voluntarily. Fifty-five (55) HBCs who attended the training program completed satisfaction survey tools, and furthermore, 45 HBCs completed both pre-training and post-training knowledge questionnaires. Training divided into two sessions which each lasted for two days was conducted. Satisfaction with the training, improvement of knowledge, and perceived impact on daily practice were evaluated using both qualitative and quantitative approaches. Results: Quantitative results indicate that 72% had poor knowledge of pre-training and only 9% post-training. They scored more in a post-test with the following differences: Post-test (mean = 6.00, SD = 1.26); pre-test (mean = 3.31, SD = 1.77). The t-test results indicated the difference to be significant, t = −9.241, p = 0.000. From the qualitative results, the themes that emerged during data analysis from group discussions were HBCs’ achievements from the training, challenges related to diabetes and diet, and suggestions for further training. Conclusions: A context-specific training increased diabetes knowledge among the HBCs for PWD. The results highlighted the importance of training in improving the knowledge of HBCs about the care of PWD. The improvement in diabetes knowledge among HBCs needs to be maintained and sustained to achieve major health benefits for PWD.

Evaluation of global health capacity building initiatives in low-and middle-income countries: A systematic review

BACKGROUND

Low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) are in dire need to improve their health outcomes. Although Global Health Capacity Building (GHCB) initiatives are recommended approaches, they risk being ineffective in the absence of standardized evaluation methods. This study systematically reviews evaluation approaches for GHCB initiatives in LMICs.

METHODS

We searched the Medline (OVID), PubMed, Scopus, and Embase.com databases for studies reporting evaluation of a GHCB initiative in a LMIC from January 1, 2009 until August 15, 2019. To differentiate them from intervention, prevention, and awareness initiatives, included articles reported at least one approach to evaluate their learning modality. We excluded cross-sectional studies, reviews, and book chapters that only assessed the effect of interventions. Data identifying the learning modality, and evaluation method, level, time interval, and approach were extracted from articles as primary outcomes.

RESULTS

Of 8324 identified studies, 63 articles were eligible for analysis. Most studies stemmed from Africa and Asia (69.8%), were delivered and evaluated face-to-face (74.6% and 76.2%), mainly to professionals (57.1%) and community workers (20.6%). Although the use of online and blended modalities showed an increase over the past 4 years, only face-to-face initiatives were evaluated long-term beyond individual-level. GHCB evaluations in general lacked standardization especially regarding the tools.

CONCLUSION

This is an important resource for evaluating GHCB initiatives in LMICs. It synthesizes evaluation approaches, offers recommendations for improvement, and calls for the standardization of evaluations, especially for long-term and wider impact assessment of online and blended modalities.

Healthcare Workers Training Courses on Vaccinations: A Flexible Format Easily Adaptable to Different Healthcare Settings

Since 2017, Italy has expanded the compulsory vaccination from 4 to 10 for those aged 0 to 16 years. Because of the great organizational effort required for the immunization services, minor attention was given to the vaccinations not included among the mandatory ones. This situation led to a real difficulty in harmonizing the vaccination procedures even inside a single region. In the Lazio region, the Laboratory of Vaccinology of the University of Rome Tor Vergata established a working group to create a new training model for healthcare professionals. The course program proposed an update of three vaccinations which are not mandatory but actively offered. It included the same part of scientific updating and a variable part based on local experiences. A specific anonymous questionnaire on knowledge and attitude was administered. The study aimed to propose a general format of training courses for vaccination centers adaptable to the individual local health units (ASLs) and to evaluate through questionnaires. The results show differences in knowledge and attitudes toward non-mandatory vaccinations among the ASLs of Lazio, confirming the usefulness of a support to make knowledge and procedures homogeneous. This model could be adapted to any healthcare setting and exported to other services.

Development, implementation and evaluation of a management specialization course in oncology using blended learning

BACKGROUND

Identifying effective methods for safeguarding the efficient functioning of the healthcare system contributes significantly towards establishing a successful healthcare organization. Consequently, quality management programs are currently being implemented in healthcare as a vital strategy for patient care. Quality management encompasses protocols and guidelines in decision-making and in the evaluation of processes and treatment flowcharts, data analysis and health indicators, and addresses improvement in the interaction between different health professionals. Qualifying health professionals to perform quality management has represented a barrier to implementing a well-structured management system. Indeed, the pathway to qualifying health managers is often poorly outlined, with clear gaps in the definition of their competencies, training and career plans. Therefore, studies and education-related actions aimed at qualifying health professionals in management are vital if health services of excellence are to be established. The present study aimed to plan, develop, implement and evaluate a management specialization course in oncology using blended learning.

METHODS

Following approval by the institution's internal review board, the study was conducted at the Instituto de Medicina Integral Prof. Fernando Figueira (IMIP). The Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation and Evaluation (ADDIE) model was used to plan, develop, implement and evaluate the course. Data were collected as the course participants who had concluded all the modules evaluated the program.

RESULTS

A management course in oncology, consisting of ten sequential modules, was developed and implemented between March 2018 and February 2019. The course consisted of monthly face-to-face encounters, each with 12 h of activities, and distance education using a virtual learning environment. Each module was presented by a specialist on the subject in question. After the end-of-course conclusion work had already been handed in and evaluated by the tutors, the participants completed a form to assess the course using Kirkpatrick's training evaluation model.

CONCLUSIONS

A management course in oncology was developed using the ADDIE model. A high degree of satisfaction was found among the participants regarding improvements in their management skills and their professional behavior. The expectation is that this initiative will ultimately improve healthcare and reduce costs, as well as encourage further innovative educational actions for health professionals.

Evaluation of a training program on primary eye care for an Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA) in an urban district

Purpose

An Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA) available in community could be a potential primary eye care (PEC) worker. Training programme for ASHAs on PEC was undertaken & evaluated in a district of a capital city.

Methods

ASHAs selected randomly from a district were imparted one day training on PEC & expected to refer patients to nearby Vision Centres (VC). Their knowledge was assessed before & after training and re-evaluated 1 year later. ASHAs were asked to conduct vision screening of 40+ population in their areas and ASHA referrals were noted by Optometrist in VC. Focus Group Discussions (FGD) of ASHAs were held to find barriers & facilitating factors in engaging ASHAs in PEC. Training was evaluated using Kirkpatrick's evaluation model for measuring reactions, learning, behaviour and results.

Results

Mean knowledge score increased from 14.96 (±4.34) pre-training to 25.38 (±3.48) post- training and sustained at 21.75 (±4.16) at 1year. Monthly average OPD of vision centres increased by 23.6% after ASHA training. FGDs revealed that ASHAs were willing to work in eye care for awareness generation and patient facilitation but were hesitant in conducting vision screening.

Conclusion

ASHAs can be trained as PEC workers provided they have adequate support.