California's COVID-19 Virtual Training Academy: Rapid Scale-Up of a Statewide Contact Tracing and Case Investigation Workforce Training Program

Frontiers in Public Health

Alice Gandelman¹  Rachel Willard-Grace²  Patricia Mejia²  Alicia DiGiammarino²  Lisa Chen³  Amelia Alonis³  Anna Peare⁴  Shira Shafir⁴  Michael Prelip⁴  Alina Dorian⁴  Alice Kiureghian⁴  Hannah Malan⁴  Elizabeth Antonyan⁴  Caitlin Dunn⁵  Karen White⁵  Michael Reid⁵  Andrew D. Maher⁵  Debbie B. Brickley⁵  Maeve Forster⁵  Mike Grasso⁵ 

[1] California Prevention Training Center, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, United States;Center for Excellence in Primary Care, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, United States;Curry International Tuberculosis Center, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, United States;Department of Community Health Sciences, Fielding School of Public Health, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United States;Institute for Global Health Sciences, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, United States;

关键词: COVID-19;    case investigation;    contact tracing;    workforce;    public health preparedness;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fpubh.2021.706697

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Case investigation (CI) and contact tracing (CT) are key to containing the COVID-19 pandemic. Widespread community transmission necessitates a large, diverse workforce with specialized knowledge and skills. The University of California, San Francisco and Los Angeles partnered with the California Department of Public Health to rapidly mobilize and train a CI/CT workforce. In April through August 2020, a team of public health practitioners and health educators constructed a training program to enable learners from diverse backgrounds to quickly acquire the competencies necessary to function effectively as CIs and CTs. Between April 27 and May 5, the team undertook a curriculum design sprint by performing a needs assessment, determining relevant goals and objectives, and developing content. The initial four-day curriculum consisted of 13 hours of synchronous live web meetings and 7 hours of asynchronous, self-directed study. Educational content emphasized the principles of COVID-19 exposure, infectious period, isolation and quarantine guidelines and the importance of prevention and control interventions. A priority was equipping learners with skills in rapport building and health coaching through facilitated web-based small group skill development sessions. The training was piloted among 31 learners and subsequently expanded to an average weekly audience of 520 persons statewide starting May 7, reaching 7,499 unique enrollees by August 31. Capacity to scale and sustain the training program was afforded by the UCLA Extension Canvas learning management system. Repeated iteration of content and format was undertaken based on feedback from learners, facilitators, and public health and community-based partners. It is feasible to rapidly train and deploy a large workforce to perform CI and CT. Interactive skills-based training with opportunity for practice and feedback are essential to develop independent, high-performing CIs and CTs. Rigorous evaluation will continue to monitor quality measures to improve the training experience and outcomes.

【 授权许可】

Unknown