Email Course on Family Planning needs of HIV Clients -JHPIEGO, US ************************ [Moderator's Note: The first half of the message describes an evaluation of an email course conducted by JHPIEGO, an affliate of Johns Hopkins University. The course is scheduled to be offered again. The second half of the message described how to register. Individuals interested in participating in the course should send an e-mail and required information (see below) by 15 May 2003 to repro@jhpiego.net] **************************************** Email Course on Family Planning needs of HIV Clients As of December 2002, an estimated 42 million people worldwide are infected with HIV/AIDS. Seventy percent of these people live in sub-Saharan Africa, where HIV/AIDS is now the leading cause of death. These devastating figures, and the fact that many of these people are of childbearing age, make it clear that this epidemic requires creative interventions that help prevent the spread of HIV and programs that address both the fragile healthcare workforce and the patients who need basic reproductive healthcare services. The JHPIEGO Corporation has begun developing education and training programs in response to this epidemic and the resulting need for a healthcare workforce educated about the family planning and reproductive health needs of clients with> HIV/AIDS. In many countries, the HIV/AIDS epidemic as well as strained budgets have stretched healthcare professionals to the limit. They cannot be away from their jobs to attend lengthy group-based courses. However, they need to be aware of information that affects how they do their job. With this in mind, in 2002, JHPIEGO offered a 14-week e-mail course, "Meeting the Family Planning and Reproductive Health (FP/RH) Needs of Clients with HIV/AIDS in Low-Resource Settings." The objective 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. Course Description The course covered various aspects of FP/RH healthcare for people with HIV, with a focus on practical solutions for low-resource settings. At the same time, the course reflected current scientific knowledge. The content was targeted to healthcare professionals worldwide including policymakers, managers, faculty, service providers, and trainers in the areas of HIV/AIDS, primary care, family planning, reproductive health, and maternal health. The course was offered in English in an e-mail discussion list (Listserv) format to facilitate discussion. Components included a syllabus, pre-test, 10 weekly lessons, post-test, and final course evaluation. Each weekly lesson included: * A written lecture with links to additional resources * Learning exercises including case studies and role plays * A multiple-choice quiz Participants were encouraged to read the learning exercises and share their answers and experiences with each other through the listserv. The quiz answers were provided with the next weekly lesson. The topics covered included: * Risk Assessment/Identification * Prevention of Sexual Transmission of HIV * Counseling the HIV-Positive Client about Family Planning * HIV and Contraceptive Methods * Other Reproductive Health Issues * Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission * Infection Prevention for Healthcare Workers and Other Caregivers Experts in the fields of family planning, HIV/AIDS, and infection prevention taught the course, including: Dr. Jean Anderson (Ob/Gyn), Technical Advisor for JHPIEGO's HIV/AIDS Program and Director of the Johns Hopkins HIV Women's Health Program; Professor Emmanuel 'Dipo Otolorin (Ob/Gyn), Medical Director of JHPIEGO's HIV/AIDS Program and, previously, Reproductive Health Advisor for the Regional Center for Quality of Health Care in Kampala, Uganda; and Linda Tietjen, an infection prevention consultant to the JHPIEGO Corporation and co-author of the recently published manual, "Infection Prevention Guidelines for Healthcare Facilities with Limited Resources. Results Thirty-seven healthcare professionals from 14 developing countries participated in the course. The participants represented the regions of East and West Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean. Of those, 22 completed the requirements (pre-test, post-test, and final course evaluation). These participants received a certificate of completion and a CD-ROM with HIV/AIDS tutorials. On the pre-test, only 18 percent of the participants scored 80 percent or better. On the post-test, 77 percent of the participants scored 80 percent or better. The mean score from the pre-test was 65 percent compared to 85 percent on the post-test. The average increase of more than 30 percent illustrates a substantial increase in knowledge. All but one participant improved their score, and one improved from 45 percent to 85 percent, an improvement of almost 100 percent. In terms of the participant profile, 59 percent were men and 41 percent were women; 32 percent were physicians, 19 percent were nurses or midwives, and 32 percent were healthcare administrators. All had access to a computer, either at their office or at home, and most used a web-based e-mail address (e.g., Hotmail, Yahoo). As a result of the course, participants indicated that they were able to provide improved FP/RH services to clients. This included being able to discuss more knowledgably: * HIV/AIDS risk behavior with clients * Dual protection * Issues related to mother-to-child transmission * Appropriate methods of family planning Participants indicated that they planned to use the information to update training materials and service guidelines. They noted that taking the course by e-mail was convenient and saved them time. In addition, all of the participants indicated that they had shared two or more lessons with their colleagues. Comments from Participants "Thanks, this was very helpful and will be incorporated into our FP training programs." - Liberia participant "I gained more, new, updated knowledge and don't have to go to school [and] can save time." - Vietnam participant "Because of this course, when revising [a] course in Nepal, I felt not only that the HIV/AIDS chapter needed to be revised, but also confident to re-write the whole chapter." - Nepal participant "There was enough time for people to read lessons and also respond to their friends' answers. Apart from some difficult technical terms, the course was quite easy to understand without need for someone to explain to you what is being meant. It is very appropriate for Less Developed Countries." - Zambia participant "The interaction not only made the whole course interesting but sometimes forced you to think in different perspective." - Nepal participant Summary E-mail is an effective way to reach healthcare providers in the field with new, relevant information about family planning, reproductive health and HIV/AIDS. As seen by the pre- and post-test results, the participants in this course gained valuable knowledge that they can use on the job in a variety of ways. The course will continue to be offered by e-mail two to three times per year. In addition, a self-paced version of the course will be offered online. JHPIEGO is also exploring the possibility of developing courses on additional topics. ***HIV/RH E-MAIL COURSE TO BE OFFERED AGAIN*** The Training in Reproductive Health Project at JHPIEGO is currently planning the launch of the second offering of the course described above. The course will be offered in the next few months and taught again by Dr. Jean Anderson and Dr. Emmanuel 'Dipo Otolorin. To participate, each person must: * Have her/his own e-mail account (either personal or work) and access it regularly (daily)> * Read and write English * Agree to complete a pre-test and a post-test * Agree to complete a final evaluation of the course Course participants can expect to spend approximately 2 to 3 hours per week reading the lessons and completing the exercises, depending on their proficiency with English. Individuals interested in participating in the course should send an e-mail with the following information to repro@jhpiego.net by 15 May 2003. * Name * Address * Profession (e.g., FP/RH nurse, HIV/AIDS physician)> * Job title * Place of employment Individuals completing the pre-test, post-test, and final evaluation will receive a Certificate of Completion. If you have any questions about the course, please feel free to e-mail the course coordinator: Natalie Maier Email:nmaier@jhpiego.net *---* A posting from AF-AIDS (af-aids@healthdev.net) *********** AF-AIDS is the regional forum on HIV/AIDS in Africa, moderated by the Health & Development Networks Moderation Team (HDN, www.hdnet.org) with technical support from Health Systems Trust (HST) on behalf of the AF-AIDS Policy and Steering Committee (HST, HDN & SAfAIDS) The views expressed in this forum do not necessarily reflect those of HDN, HST or SAfAIDS. Reproduction welcomed provided source is cited as follows: Copyright AF-AIDS 2002 [Internet: http://archives.healthdev.net/af-aids Email: af-aids@healthdev.net]