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

Abstract #72199

Natalie Maier, Jean Anderson, MD, Emmanuel O Otolorin, MD, Linda Tietjen, and Theresa C. Norton, MBA. JHPIEGO Corporation, 1615 Thames St, Baltimore, MD 21231, 410-537-1882, nmaier@jhpiego.net

In 2002, the JHPIEGO Corporation at the Johns Hopkins University offered an e-mail course, “Meeting the Family Planning and Reproductive Health Needs of Clients with HIV/AIDS in Low-Resource Settings.” The purpose of this course was to provide a foundation of knowledge about FP/RH and HIV/AIDS to help providers better meet the needs of clients with HIV/AIDS in low-resource settings. The course was targeted to a wide-range of healthcare professionals including those working in the fields of HIV/AIDS, family planning, and primary healthcare. It was offered in a listserv environment to facilitate discussion and included 10 weekly lessons comprising a lecture, a quiz and a learning exercise. Topics included: counseling the HIV-positive client about family planning, prevention of mother-to-child transmission, and infection prevention for healthcare workers. Thirty-seven healthcare professionals from 14 developing countries participated in the course. Of those, 21 completed all the course requirements. The mean score from the pre-course test was 65% compared to 85% on the post-course test. The average increase of 20% demonstrated a substantial increase in knowledge. As a result of the course, participants indicated that they would better be able to provide FP/RH services to clients. This included being better able to discuss HIV/AIDS risk behavior and to counsel clients about dual protection, issues related to mother-to-child transmission, and appropriate methods of family planning. Participants noted that they planned to use the information to update training materials and service guidelines, and that taking the course by e-mail was convenient and saved them time.

Learning Objectives:

• At the conclusion of the session, the participants will be able to:
• List the advantages and disadvantages of conducting an e-mail course to train providers in FP/RH needs of clients with HIV
• Assess the usefulness of conducting an e-mail course to conduct training for other content areas

Keywords: International Reproductive Health, Distance Learning

Related Web page: www.reproline.jhu.edu

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: JHPIEGO Corporation, affiliate of Johns Hopkins University
I have a significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.
Relationship: employment