Digital Storytelling: A Video-based Approach for Engaging University Students in Health Education

BACKGROUND: Digital stories are short videos that use narrative structures to address health outcomes from a personal perspective. AIM: The main objective of this study was to train university students to design a video-based health education program for promoting peer-to-peer education and community awareness. METHODS: Cross-sectional study. The study was conducted as a project for medical students, enrolled in the implementation of the Egyptian Youth Initiative (EYI), executed in response to the Government of Egypt- United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Country Program of Cooperation for 2016 - 2018. A four-day train-the-trainer workshop established for capacity building on DST and video communication. RESULTS: Between June 2017 and May 2018, 120 eligible students were enrolled, among whom median age was 21 years and 67 (55%) were female. Pre- and posttests detected increased percent change of students’ knowledge regarding different health issues. Open-ended questions highlighted pros and cons of the program, the most important skills and knowledge gained, suggestions and recommendations mentioned by the students to maximize the use of this type of workshops in the framework of strengthening and activating the initiative outcome. The trainer created a grading rubric to evaluate student’s video projects. CONCLUSION: The digital story is a lay method to capture meaningful, impactful stories that can be used to advocate for public health concerns and crises. The study highlights the need for high-quality research on the impact of DST in health professionals’ education and behaviors.

Evaluation of a Health Education Intervention to Improve Parental Knowledge and Attitudes About Chronic Stress and Depression Among Head Start Families

Background. Chronic stress and depression disproportionately affect families experiencing poverty, and likely contribute to disparities in early childhood developmental outcomes. Developing strategies to address chronic stress and depression may help mitigate these disparities. Early Head Start (EHS) and Head Start (HS) programs provide an important platform to address the disproportionate burden of stress and mental health issues experienced by EHS/HS families. However, few low-literacy, broad, scalable interventions improve parents’ knowledge and attitudes around these topics. Objectives. We examined parents’ knowledge and attitudes regarding stress and depression before and after a train-the-trainer (TTT) intervention delivered to 28 EHS/HS agencies across the United States. Methods. Following a TTT workshop, 18 agencies chose to deliver the stress training to 1,089 parents and 5 chose to deliver the depression training to 670 parents. Participating parents completed paper assessments at baseline and 3 months following the training. Paired T-tests and chi-square analyses tested whether responses significantly improved over time. Results. At baseline, 37.2% of parents reported feeling stressed most of the time and 13.4% reported feeling depressed most of the time. Following the trainings and reinforcement activities, parents’ knowledge, attitudes and self-reported behaviors significantly improved, including willingness to seek help for depression, avoidance of negative health-risk behaviors and utilization of healthy stress management practices. At follow up, 18.6% of parents reported feeling stressed most of the time and 11% reported feeling depressed. Conclusion. Findings suggest this low-literacy TTT approach is potentially a promising health promotion intervention with broad dissemination potential.

Strengthening radiation protection education and training of health professionals: conclusions from an IAEA meeting

In March 2021 the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) organised an online Technical Meeting on Developing Effective Methods for Radiation Protection Education and Training of Health Professionals with attendance of 230 participants representing 66 Member States and 24 international organizations, professional bodies and safety alliances. By means of a pre-meeting survey, presentations by experts, topical panel discussions and post-meeting feedback to the meeting summary, the meeting identified strengths, common weaknesses and possible solutions and actions for improving radiation protection education and training of health professionals. Available guidelines and resources for radiation protection training were also reviewed. The meeting discussion resulted in a strong consensus for the need of: (a) international guidance on education and training in radiation protection and safety for health professionals, (b) an international description of minimum standards of initial and ongoing competence and qualification in radiation protection for relevant professional groups, considering the available recommendations at international and regional levels. The proposed actions include provisions for train-the-trainer credentialing and facility training accreditation, balance between the online and face-to-face training, improved on-the job training, as well as improved inclusion in training programmes of aspects related to application of new technologies, ethical aspects, development of communication skills, and use of software tools for improving justification and optimisation. The need for making the ongoing training practical, applicable, and useful to the trainee was highlighted. The international consultation initiated by the IAEA was appreciated as a good approach to understand and promote coordination and collaboration at all levels, for best results in education and training in radiation protection of health professionals. Implementing such a holistic approach to education and training in radiation protection would contribute towards qualification and competence of health professionals needed to ensure application of high standards for quality and safety in medical uses of ionizing radiation.

Training Savvy Caregiver Program Group Leaders Through an Online Course

A significant factor limiting organizations’ implementation of the Savvy Caregiver program, a widely disseminated dementia caregiver psychoeducation course, is the need to provide training to program leaders to ensure their understanding of Savvy core principles and strengthen their teaching and coaching skills. Such training has typically been provided through in-person group sessions led by the Savvy developers. To facilitate broader availability, we have embarked on an NIA-supported program to develop a fully online self-paced Savvy train-the-trainer course. The course, delivered individually on a widely used teaching platform, is in seven sections: the first introduces Savvy principles and the trainer role; the next six cover the content and teaching strategies of each of Savvy’s six sessions. In the first development phase, 33 individuals from 13 organizations across the country took part in training (average age 49.5; almost all college level or professional women). Qualitative interviews with 11 trainees and debriefing sessions with others yielded consistently positive responses: the training enhanced their own appreciation for caregiving; they endorsed the self-paced learning and; and it established expectations for positive benefits of Savvy for caregivers. Trainees’ feedback has led to several improvements, including resolving reported technical glitches (e.g., navigating the course). New videos illustrating group delivery methods have been added. Fidelity monitoring strategies are supported as organizations have been encouraged to augment the online training by convening meetings of trainees while in training to enable role playing, and greater personalization is achieved via post-training Zoom meetings with trainees and the Savvy training team staff.

Bringing Rights of Older Persons to the Real World: Lessons Learned From a Rights-Based Training

When gerontological education and training are grounded in a rights-based approach, this framing provides a tool to ensure the rights of older people are advocated for and experienced. A “train the trainer” program was given to non-governmental organizations (NGOs) providing services to refugees in Jordan. The goal of the training was to educate NGOs on how to use a rights-based approach when responding to and supporting older refugees. The training covered a range of topics in ensuring the rights of older people in the provision of care, protection, and inclusion. Training outcomes revealed an increased awareness of the rights of older people. Skills and knowledge gained as a result of this training empowered participants to further develop their own work, within their cultural context, to reflect a rights-based approach to services and programs.

Partnering With African American Faith-Based Communities to Support Dementia Caregivers

African Americans (AA) are twice as likely to develop Alzheimer’s Disease as Caucasians. Historically, houses of faith have been a center of the AA community and a trusted source of information and support. Based on these facts, as well as community needs, the SHARE Network (a Geriatrics Workforce Enhancement Program on the South Side of Chicago) in partnership with faith-based community leaders, created an opportunity for community members to train to become resource experts on Alzheimer’s Disease & Related Dementias (ADRD) and create sustainable caregiver support groups (CSGs). The resulting initiative, Dementia Resource Champions, is a train-the-trainer style health education initiative piloted in 2018, and subsequently expanded and modified due to COVID. Participants receive instruction on stress reduction, ADRD, and community resources. They discuss how to structure CSGs to meet community needs. Results of this initiative include development of five brand-new CSGs with faith communities on Chicago’s South Side.

Cost-Effectiveness Analyses on Various Models of The Red Light, Purple Light Self-Regulation Intervention for Young Children

Early childhood interventions can improve self-regulation, but there are few economic evaluations of such interventions. This study analyzed the cost-effectiveness of an early childhood self-regulation intervention (Red Light Purple Light!; RLPL), comparing three different models of implementation across stages of intervention development: (Model 1) trained research assistants (RAs; graduate students) directly delivered the RLPL intervention to children; (Model 2) RAs trained trainers (e.g., program coaches), who then trained teachers to implement RLPL with children (e.g., train-the-trainer); and (Model 3) program faculty trained teachers to deliver the RLPL intervention to children. We implemented a cost-effectiveness analysis by calculating the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio. We also conducted a series of sensitivity analyses to adjust for parameter uncertainty. Our base-case analysis suggests that Model 2 was the most cost-effective strategy, in that a cost of $23 per child was associated with a one-unit increase of effect size on self-regulation scores. The “train-the-trainer” model remained the optimal strategy across scenarios in our sensitivity analysis. This study fills an important gap in cost-effectiveness analyses on early childhood self-regulation interventions. Our process and results can serve as a model for future cost-effectiveness analyses of early childhood intervention programs and may ultimately inform decisions related to intervention adoption that optimize resource allocation and improve program design.

A Train-the-Trainer Programme to Deliver High Quality Education for Healthcare Providers

A promising practice for educating anti-trafficking stakeholders in healthcare emerged through an innovative train-the-trainer programme from a National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioner’s initiative called the Alliance for Children in Trafficking (ACT). The purpose of this training is to provide effective, high-quality education development with wide dissemination and reach. The obstacles to in-person education due to COVID-19 resulted in a pivot to a virtual platform to continue the ACT Advocate programme. This paper considers the engagement of the nursing profession in operationalising the ACT Advocate programme as a way to lead advocacy and education efforts, using a public health approach, for effective responses to child trafficking.