Article type
Abstract
Background:
The Practical Approach to Care Kit (PACK) is a strategy to streamline primary care (PC) delivery using evidence-informed clinical decision support, training and health system strengthening. South Africa’s department of health requires that 80% of nurses in PC receive PACK, and it has been adopted to support PC reforms in Brazil, Ethiopia, and Indonesia.
Before 2019, facilities used a cascaded, face-to-face PACK training model. Staff turnover and guideline updates necessitates ongoing in-service training, a need emphasised during the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, we needed to standardize the educational offering to ensure fidelity and improve reporting for monitoring and evaluation.
Objective:
To make healthcare training standardised, more accessible and improve reporting by moving to online delivery.
Methods:
Transitioning PACK training online, we selected the 'Thinkific' Learning Management System (LMS) for its suitability. The curriculum, featuring mobile-friendly, interactive quizzes, maintains adult education principles, and encourages engagement. We co-developed TrainTrack, a reporting system, integrated with the LMS to automate data capturing and tailor reporting to various health system levels.
Outcomes:
PACK online training showed a ten-fold rise in uptake within three years and a completion rate of 64% was higher than the average for online learning. During COVID-19, this approach served as a vehicle for large scale, rapid dissemination of evolving guidance and showed a positive impact on TB testing and detection.
In response to the slow uptake of training, we used TrainTrack to generate facility-level reports to track progress and from this, gave targeted support. Analysis of district-level reports identified training uptake barriers, leading to system improvements like policies for protected online training time and connectivity improvements.
This approach's impact in South Africa prompted its adoption in Brazil and Indonesia, indicating its replicability and potential for broad application.
Conclusion:
The transition to online PACK training, enhanced by TrainTrack's reporting functions, marks an innovative step in making healthcare training standardised and more accessible. This aligns with Sustainable development Goals 3, 9, and 17 by promoting universal health coverage, technological access, and partnership strengthening. Continued work focuses on improving affordability, system integration and evaluating its impact on healthcare processes and outcomes.
The Practical Approach to Care Kit (PACK) is a strategy to streamline primary care (PC) delivery using evidence-informed clinical decision support, training and health system strengthening. South Africa’s department of health requires that 80% of nurses in PC receive PACK, and it has been adopted to support PC reforms in Brazil, Ethiopia, and Indonesia.
Before 2019, facilities used a cascaded, face-to-face PACK training model. Staff turnover and guideline updates necessitates ongoing in-service training, a need emphasised during the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, we needed to standardize the educational offering to ensure fidelity and improve reporting for monitoring and evaluation.
Objective:
To make healthcare training standardised, more accessible and improve reporting by moving to online delivery.
Methods:
Transitioning PACK training online, we selected the 'Thinkific' Learning Management System (LMS) for its suitability. The curriculum, featuring mobile-friendly, interactive quizzes, maintains adult education principles, and encourages engagement. We co-developed TrainTrack, a reporting system, integrated with the LMS to automate data capturing and tailor reporting to various health system levels.
Outcomes:
PACK online training showed a ten-fold rise in uptake within three years and a completion rate of 64% was higher than the average for online learning. During COVID-19, this approach served as a vehicle for large scale, rapid dissemination of evolving guidance and showed a positive impact on TB testing and detection.
In response to the slow uptake of training, we used TrainTrack to generate facility-level reports to track progress and from this, gave targeted support. Analysis of district-level reports identified training uptake barriers, leading to system improvements like policies for protected online training time and connectivity improvements.
This approach's impact in South Africa prompted its adoption in Brazil and Indonesia, indicating its replicability and potential for broad application.
Conclusion:
The transition to online PACK training, enhanced by TrainTrack's reporting functions, marks an innovative step in making healthcare training standardised and more accessible. This aligns with Sustainable development Goals 3, 9, and 17 by promoting universal health coverage, technological access, and partnership strengthening. Continued work focuses on improving affordability, system integration and evaluating its impact on healthcare processes and outcomes.