Strategic Plan: Implementation and Recommendations
Education Focus Area
Overview
The overall goal of viral hepatitis education and training is to increase knowledge, create awareness, and change attitudes and practices that will result in the prevention and control of viral hepatitis among health care professionals, high-risk populations and the general public.
New Yorkers must be better informed of the risks of viral hepatitis. Furthermore, health care providers in New York must be equally informed on the current screening, testing, management and treatment of those at risk or currently infected with viral hepatitis. Despite the efforts of the NYSDOH and partnering agencies to make educational materials and training available on viral hepatitis, there still remains a significant need for education of both clinicians and the general public.
Viral hepatitis educational materials currently exist in various formats such as brochures, pamphlets, fact sheets, video, Web sites, clinical guidelines, NYSDOH-sponsored conferences, and training curriculums for professionals. Even though these products are available, not everyone has access to them.
Educating the Professionals
The overall goal of education and training of professionals is to increase the knowledge level and awareness among clinicians and health services providers. Physicians and other professionals such as nurses, social workers, and counselors, need to be better informed on the current screening, testing, counseling, vaccination, medical management, and treatment protocols for viral hepatitis. Education and training materials should include general information about viral hepatitis, risk factors for infection, transmission, disease progression, vaccination, and treatment. Materials should also include detailed prevention messages speci . c to at-risk populations. Because of the variety of settings that service at-risk populations, trainings and materials should be adaptable to settings such as HIV programs, STD clinics, substance abuse treatment programs, and correctional settings.
One of the biggest challenges in ensuring that professionals receive appropriate and timely education is access to the training materials. In order to meet these challenges, trainings must be available in different formats, such as on-site, teleconference, on-line, and CD-ROM trainings. Also, continuing education credits should be offered at trainings when possible. In order to provide the highest quality trainings, the NYSDOH needs to collaborate with partnering agencies from across the state, including but not limited to the Medical Society of the State of New York (MSSNY), DOCS, and OASAS.
In 2003, the NYSDOH AIDS Institute acquired a three-year grant from the CDC to develop, field test and disseminate a comprehensive, modular, skills-building training that can serve as a national curriculum on viral hepatitis. The NYSDOH will partner with the New York State Office of Alcohol and Substance Abuse services, the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and the AIDS Community Research Initiative of America. The training is designed for staff at various settings such STD clinics, HIV prevention and care settings, drug treatment programs, community health centers and those who work in criminal justice settings.
NYSDOH currently provides information to professionals through trainings, courses, annual conferences, mass physician mailings, clinical guidelines, videos, teleconferences, and Internet education.
Educating the General Public
The goal of educating the public is to increase knowledge and awareness of viral hepatitis resulting in more people getting tested, more people knowing their status, and more people getting vaccinated. To accomplish this, educational materials should include general information about viral hepatitis, risk factors for infection, transmission, disease progression, vaccination, and treatment. Educational materials should also include detailed prevention messages specific to at-risk populations, and information on community resources available for further medical care.
Because of the diverse population in New York State, educational materials must be culturally and linguistically appropriate and available in many formats to meet the needs of all New Yorkers. In addition, some individuals or groups may not see themselves as high-risk and, therefore, may not identify with the messages being delivered. Thus, educational materials must be geared not only towards high-risk groups, but also towards the general population. Finally, educational materials, if possible, must be free.
Currently in New York State, viral hepatitis educational materials for the public exist in various formats such as on-line fact sheets, vaccination schedules, a Web site devoted to viral hepatitis, brochures, informational packets, community presentations and support groups.
Evaluation of Educational Materials and Trainings
To determine if educational materials and trainings are meeting the needs of the professionals and public in New York State, they must be evaluated. Evaluation of materials and trainings exists in many formats such as pre and post-test surveys, post-conference evaluations, focus groups, and phone surveys.
Major Themes from the Hepatitis Summit
Par ticipants at the Hepatitis Strategic Planning Summit identi . ed the following major themes in the hepatitis education focus area:
- Education and training must focus on increasing the knowledge and awareness among professionals and the public with regards to viral hepatitis,
- Education and training must be culturally and linguistically relevant to the population of New York State,
- Education and training must exist in various formats (e.g., brochures, conferences, on-line trainings, CD-ROM), and
- Education and training must be easily accessible to both professionals and the public.
Long Term Goal # 1: Increase the capacity of all appropriate health care and service providers to screen, diagnosis, treat, educate, and counsel clients.
Strategy # 1:
Determine the educational needs by conducting a formal needs assessment.
Action Plans
- During year one, NYSDOH, NYCDOHMH, and partners should:
- Identify target populations,
- Develop a survey tool, and
- Pilot the survey tool for 6 months.
- During year two, NYSDOH, NYCDOHMH, and consultants should:
- Evaluate the results of the survey tool,
- Refine the survey tool as needed, and
- Prepare for dissemination of the needs assessment.
Strategy # 2:
Develop a comprehensive viral hepatitis curriculum.
Action Plans
- During year one, NYSDOH, MSSNY, DOCS, OASAS, and other service providers should:
- Review the results of the needs assessment,
- Determine the target audiences for the curriculum, and
- Review and evaluate other existing viral hepatitis curriculums.
- During years two and three, NYSDOH, MSSNY, DOCS, OASAS and other service providers should develop and/or modify existing viral hepatitis curriculum(s) for various target audiences.
- During years four and five, NYSDOH, MSSNY, DOCS, OASAS and other service providers should:
- Develop advanced topics to be included in curriculum and
- Conduct on-going assessment to determine future educational needs.
Strategy # 3:
Implement, expand and fully integrate the developed viral hepatitis curriculum.
Action Plans
- During year one, NYSDOH, MSSNY, DOCS, OASAS and other service providers should:
- Research/identify existing programs that may use the curriculum,
- Pilot the curriculum,
- Evaluate the pilot and adjust the curriculum as needed, and
- Explore the offering of continuing education credits.
- During years two through five, NYSDOH, MSSNY, DOCS, OASAS and other service providers should:
- Implement the viral hepatitis curriculum statewide,
- Provide on-line training and distance learning options,
- Work with medical institutions and others to provide training, and
- Evaluate the training/curriculum.
Long Term Goal # 2: Increase awareness of and access to primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention measures for infected and at-risk populations.
Strategy # 1:
Promote and educate people to the need for free testing and vaccination in high-risk settings.
Action Plans
- During years one and two, NYSDOH and partners should:
- Conduct focus groups to identify key messages that will address people's concerns regarding testing and vaccination,
- Analyze and summarize the information obtained from the focus groups, and
- Develop and disseminate educational interventions for use with high-risk populations.
- During year three, NYSDOH and partners should evaluate the educational interventions and refine as necessary.
- During years four and five, NYSDOH and partners should continue to monitor, evaluate, and modify the educational programs.
Long Term Goal # 3: Increase awareness of and access to prevention measures (e.g., screening, immunization, testing) by the general population.
Strategy # 1:
Increase awareness of prevention measures by the general population.
Action Plans
- During year one, NYSDOH and partners should:
- Develop prevention messages for hepatitis A, B and C and
- Identify a potential spokesperson to assist in promotion of the prevention messages (i.e., a well-known individual who is infected with hepatitis).
- During year two, NYSDOH should launch a large media and paper campaign promoting viral hepatitis prevention.
- During year three, NYSDOH and partners should:
- Target efforts at special populations such as schools and
- Collaborate with sponsors, clubs, and special interest groups.
- During years four and five, NYSDOH should continue to collaborate and evaluate efforts.
Strategy # 2:
Increase access to prevention measures by the general population.
Action Plans
- During year one, NYSDOH and partners should:
- Conduct regional meetings with LHDs and service providers to determine ways to increase access to prevention measures,
- Develop regional viral hepatitis prevention plans,
- Develop promotional materials for distribution,
- Develop a viral hepatitis Web site and information line for the general public, and
- Develop a viral hepatitis resource directory to assist providers, public health of . cials and consumers in identifying appropriate hepatitis services available in their county.
- During year two, NYSDOH and partners should hold a "Public Health Day" to raise the general public's awareness of viral hepatitis and other related diseases such as STDs and HIV.
- During years three through five, NYSDOH should evaluate inter ventions developed in years one and two, and make revisions as necessar y.