The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA

Abstract #69447

Kristine Gebbie, DrPH, RN¹, Kristine Qureshi, RN, MSN², Thomas Chandler, MS³, Stephen S. Morse, PhD⁴, and Elizabeth Smailes, PhD⁴. (1) School of Nursing, Columbia University, Center for Health Policy, 630 West 168 Street, GB 250, New York City, NY 10032, 212 305-1794, kmg24@columbia.edu, (2) Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, 722 West 168 Street, New York, NY 10032, (3) Center for Public Helath Preparedness, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, 722 West 168 Street, New York, NY 10032, (4) Center for Public Health Preparedness, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, 722 West 168th Street, New York, NY 10032

Effective public health preparedness requires a workforce with both the knowledge and skills required for full engagement in planning, response and evaluation activities for disasters. However, most public health leaders report that the public health workforce is not fully prepared in this regard. Therefore, strategies are needed which will facilitate competency based emergency preparedness training that is effective, efficient and economical. Use of distance based learning (DBL) methodology has been suggested as a method to achieve this goal. While DBL has proven to be an effective tool for imparting knowledge, it has been used less for competency based education, which requires demonstration of tasks and skills.

This paper will present the results of a feasibility study to evaluate a web-based DBL program for competency based, basic emergency preparedness training for employees of local health departments nationwide. The program is being implemented in conjunction with Project Public Health Ready and is designed to be delivered in two phases. The first is an online training program, designed to provide the basic knowledge required for public health preparedness. The second phase involves providing the student with a downloadable template which s/he uses to guide learning and then subsequent demonstration of the core emergency preparedness competencies. The learner may then send in the documentation to the Columbia Center for Public Health Preparedness, and a certificate of completion will be emailed to the recipient. Measurement of improvement in knowledge as well as participant satisfaction with the method is in progress. The results will be reported.

Learning Objectives:

• The learner will be able to discuss two benefits of distance based learning for competency based learning
• The learner will be able to list two challenges to using of distance based learning for competency based training
• The learner will be able to describe a methodology for evaluating the effectiveness of a distance based training program

Keywords: Distance Learning,

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.