INTRODUCTION
The training modules within the Helping Mothers Survive and Helping Babies Survive programs are traditionally delivered in-person to groups by trained facilitators. Due to COVID-19 travel restrictions and social distancing policies, these trainings are momentarily cancelled. Therefore, safe, and effective capacity-building opportunities are needed to ensure that health workers are trained and equipped to support birth.
Laerdal, in collaboration with American Academy of Pediatrics, is developing solutions to support remote facilitation of the new WHO Essential Newborn Care (ENC) Course, an adapted version of the Helping Babies Breathe course, that supports training healthcare workers to manage a baby who is born not breathing. These digital solutions will help ease program dissemination also beyond the acute COVID-19 situation.
CONCEPT
The remotely facilitated course is designed to support providers to learn and practice the key objectives in the ENC course in a safe and effective way. The course is based on a blended learning approach, where participants engage in digitally delivered course content as well as face-to-face practice time. The participants, preferably in pairs, can be based in a school or a facility where they are supported by a local and/or remote facilitator.
The facilitator will use a digital slide deck, replacing the traditional hard-copy flipcharts. The slide deck, guides the facilitator through the various components of the course seamlessly, including links to pre- and post-knowledge tests, delivering knowledge-based content, demonstrating skills, and enabling peers to participate in hands-on practice and engaging group discussions. Each section of the course ends with a set of reflection questions to encourage the learnings from the course to be applied in clinical care.
The ENC course can be held as a full day training or broken up in shorter sessions. Tools to support low-dose high-frequency training after the course will be introduced to support ongoing practice in the clinic.
ENGAGE THE PARTICIPANTS
In the video shown below, you can see the facilitator engaging the participants with an exercise that helps them understand the importance of providing air to the baby within the first minute of life - the Golden Minute.
HANDS-ON PRACTICE
Before the participants start to practice in pairs, the facilitators either use their camera or a video to demonstrate the procedure and skills to the participants. The participants will then apply what they have learned under close supervision by the remote facilitator. As they work in pairs, they will also help each other and discuss as they practice.
DIGITAL ASSESSMENTS
HMS/HBS programs utilize knowledge tests and objective, structured clinical examinations (OSCEs) to evaluate the increase in knowledge and skills retained by the participants before and after a course. These assessments are usually paper-based and require full-time administrative support to disseminate, collect and score. To reduce the burden on facilitators, HMBS Assessments is an online-based tool that can digitally disseminate, collect and score participants’ HMS and HBS course assessments.
Facilitators can flexibly “launch” assessments to participants when it is time, observe results in real-time and view individual as well as average results of the class. This information can support facilitators to visualize areas to focus on during the course, as well as compare results before and after to showcase progress.
VALUE PROPOSITION
This digitally supported solution will enable the remote delivery of the HMS/HBS programs so knowledge- and skill refreshment opportunities are available in a safe environment. High quality content delivery, skills practice and performance reflection discussions will be facilitated through the use of video and step-by-step guidance. These solutions will also better facilitate low dose, high frequency training practice in the clinics, which we know is essential to improve care.
The cost of trainings will also be optimized as travel and venue costs will be reduced, as well as costs related to monitoring and evaluation.
THANK YOU
The ENC remote facilitation builds on a long-standing partnership between LGH and AAP with continuous discussions with multiple partners and clinicians. We believe the continuum of HBB training, conducted in over 80 countries, can be strengthened further by capitalizing on digital technologies. Our common goal is to improve implementation of the HMS and HBS programs to help train and equip frontline health workers to help save additional maternal and newborn lives.