Otu, A, Okuzu, O, Effa, E et al. (7 more authors) (Cover date: January-December 2021) Training health workers at scale in Nigeria to fight COVID-19 using the InStrat COVID-19 tutorial app: an e-health interventional study. Therapeutic Advances in Infectious Disease, 8. ISSN 2049-9361
Abstract
Background:
Health worker training is an essential component of epidemic control; rapid delivery of such training is possible in low-middle income countries with digital platforms.
Methods:
Based on prior experience with the Ebola outbreak, we developed and deployed a bespoke InStrat COVID-19 tutorial app, to deliver accurate and regularly updated information about COVID-19 to frontline health workers and epidemic response officers across 25 states of Nigeria. The potential effectiveness of this app in training frontline health workers was assessed through online pre- and post-tests and a survey.
Results:
A total of 1051 health workers from 25 states across Nigeria undertook the e-learning on the InStrat COVID-19 training app. Of these, 627 (57%) completed both the pre- and post-tests in addition to completing the training modules. Overall, there were statistically significant differences between pre- and post-tests knowledge scores (54 increasing to 74). There were also differences in the subcategories of sex, region and cadre. There were higher post-test scores in males compared with females, younger versus older and southern compared with northern Nigeria. A total of 65 (50%) of the participants reported that the app increased their understanding of COVID-19, while 69 (53%) stated that they had applied the knowledge and skills learnt at work. Overall, the functionality and usability of the app were satisfactory.
Conclusion:
Capacity building for epidemic control using e-health applications is potentially effective, can be delivered at minimal cost and service disruption and can serve as a tool for capacity building in similar contexts.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © The Author(s), 2021. Creative Commons Non Commercial CC BY-NC: This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access pages (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage). |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Medicine and Health (Leeds) > School of Medicine (Leeds) > Leeds Institute of Health Sciences (Leeds) > Nuffield Centre for International Health and Development (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 06 Sep 2021 13:47 |
Last Modified: | 06 Sep 2021 13:47 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | SAGE Publications |
Identification Number: | 10.1177/20499361211040704 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:177518 |
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