RESUMO
In the United States, the public health response to control COVID-19 required rapid expansion of the contact tracing workforce from approximately 2200 personnel prepandemic to more than 100 000 during the pandemic. We describe the development and implementation of a free nationwide training course for COVID-19 contact tracers that launched April 28, 2020, and summarize participant characteristics and evaluation findings through December 31, 2020. Uptake of the online asynchronous training was substantial: 90 643 registrants completed the course during the first 8 months. In an analysis of a subset of course participants (n = 13 697), 7724 (56.4%) reported having no prepandemic public health experience and 7178 (52.4%) reported currently serving as case investigators, contact tracers, or both. Most participants who completed a course evaluation reported satisfaction with course utility (94.8%; 59 497 of 62 753) and improved understanding of contact tracing practice (93.0%; 66 107 of 71 048). These findings suggest that the course successfully reached the intended audience of new public health practitioners. Lessons learned from this implementation indicate that an introductory course level is appropriate for a national knowledge-based training that aims to complement jurisdiction-specific training. In addition, offering a range of implementation options can promote course uptake among public health agency staff. This course supported the emerging needs of the public health practice community by training a workforce to fill an important gap during the COVID-19 pandemic and could serve as a feasible model for enhancing workforce knowledge for future and ongoing public health threats.
Assuntos
COVID-19 , Busca de Comunicante , Humanos , Estados Unidos/epidemiologia , COVID-19/epidemiologia , COVID-19/prevenção & controle , Pandemias/prevenção & controle , Recursos Humanos , Saúde PúblicaRESUMO
ABSTRACT: The COVID-19 pandemic impacted sexually transmitted disease (STD) services. Of 59 US-funded STD programs, 91% reported a great deal to moderate impact from staff reassignment in April 2020, with 28% of respondents reporting permanent reassignment of disease intervention specialist staff. Telemedicine was implemented in 47%. Decreases in STD case reports were reported by most jurisdictions.
Assuntos
COVID-19 , Infecções Sexualmente Transmissíveis , Telemedicina , COVID-19/epidemiologia , Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S. , Humanos , Pandemias/prevenção & controle , Infecções Sexualmente Transmissíveis/epidemiologia , Infecções Sexualmente Transmissíveis/prevenção & controle , Estados Unidos/epidemiologiaRESUMO
ABSTRACT: A virtual partner services technical assistance (TA) project was piloted with the Minnesota Department of Health to address an ongoing syphilis outbreak. The TA reduced the health department's disease intervention specialist workload, achieved partner services outcomes comparable with in-person methods, and identified lessons learned to replicate with other jurisdictions.
Assuntos
Sífilis , Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S. , Surtos de Doenças/prevenção & controle , Humanos , Minnesota , Projetos Piloto , Sífilis/epidemiologia , Sífilis/prevenção & controle , Estados UnidosRESUMO
BACKGROUND: Community Approaches to Reducing Sexually Transmitted Disease (CARS), a unique initiative of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, promotes the use of community engagement to increase sexually transmitted disease (STD) prevention, screening, and treatment and to address locally prioritized STD-related social determinants of health within communities experiencing STD disparities, including youth, persons of color, and sexual and gender minorities. We sought to identify elements of community engagement as applied within CARS. METHODS AND MATERIALS: Between 2011 and 2018, we collected and analyzed archival and in-depth interview data to identify and explore community engagement across 8 CARS sites. Five to 13 interview participants (mean, 7) at each site were interviewed annually. Participants included project staff and leadership, community members, and representatives from local community organizations (e.g., health departments; lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer-serving organizations; faith organizations; businesses; and HIV-service organizations) and universities. Data were analyzed using constant comparison, an approach to grounded theory development. RESULTS: Twelve critical elements of community engagement emerged, including commitment to engagement, partner flexibility, talented and trusted leadership, participation of diverse sectors, establishment of vision and mission, open communication, reducing power differentials, working through conflict, identifying and leveraging resources, and building a shared history. CONCLUSIONS: This study expands the community engagement literature within STD prevention, screening, and treatment by elucidating some of the critical elements of the approach and provides guidance for practitioners, researchers, and their partners as they develop, implement, and evaluate strategies to reduce STD disparities.
Assuntos
Minorias Sexuais e de Gênero , Infecções Sexualmente Transmissíveis , Pessoas Transgênero , Adolescente , Feminino , Humanos , Comportamento Sexual , Infecções Sexualmente Transmissíveis/prevenção & controle , Determinantes Sociais da SaúdeRESUMO
OBJECTIVES: The WHO recommends pregnant women receive both HIV and syphilis testing at their first antenatal care visit, as untreated maternal infections can lead to severe, adverse pregnancy outcomes. One strategy for increasing testing for both HIV and syphilis is the use of point-of-care (rapid) diagnostic tests that are simple, proven effective and inexpensive. In Malawi, pregnant women routinely receive HIV testing, but only 10% are tested for syphilis at their first antenatal care visit. This evaluation explores stakeholder perceptions of a novel, dual HIV/syphilis rapid diagnostic test and potential barriers to national scale-up of the dual test in Malawi. METHODS: During June and July 2015, we conducted 15 semistructured interviews with 25 healthcare workers, laboratorians, Ministry of Health leaders and partner agency representatives working in prevention of mother-to-child transmission in Malawi. We asked stakeholders about the importance of a dual rapid diagnostic test, concerns using and procuring the dual test and recommendations for national expansion. RESULTS: Stakeholders viewed the test favourably, citing the importance of a dual rapid test in preventing missed opportunities for syphilis diagnosis and treatment, improving infant outcomes and increasing syphilis testing coverage. Primary technical concerns were about the additional procedural steps needed to perform the test, the possibility that testers may not adhere to required waiting times before interpreting results and difficulty reading and interpreting test results. Stakeholders thought national scale-up would require demonstration of cost-savings, uniform coordination, revisions to testing guidelines and algorithms, training of testers and a reliable supply chain. CONCLUSIONS: Stakeholders largely support implementation of a dual HIV/syphilis rapid diagnostic test as a feasible alternative to current antenatal testing. Scale-up will require addressing perceived barriers; negotiating changes to existing algorithms and guidelines; and Ministry of Health approval and funding to support training of staff and procurement of supplies.
Assuntos
Testes Diagnósticos de Rotina , Infecções por HIV/diagnóstico , Programas de Rastreamento , Kit de Reagentes para Diagnóstico , Sífilis/diagnóstico , Adolescente , Adulto , Análise Custo-Benefício , Estudos de Viabilidade , Feminino , Infecções por HIV/transmissão , Humanos , Recém-Nascido , Transmissão Vertical de Doenças Infecciosas/prevenção & controle , Malaui/epidemiologia , Avaliação de Resultados em Cuidados de Saúde , Aceitação pelo Paciente de Cuidados de Saúde/estatística & dados numéricos , Gravidez , Complicações Infecciosas na Gravidez/diagnóstico , Complicações Infecciosas na Gravidez/prevenção & controle , Resultado da Gravidez , Gestantes , Cuidado Pré-Natal , Sífilis/transmissãoRESUMO
BACKGROUND: Given the growing popularity of administrative data for health research, information on the differences and similarities between administrative data and customary data sources (e.g. surveillance) will help to inform the use of administrative data in the field of sexually transmissible infections (STIs). The objective of this study was to compare the incidence rates of three nonviral STIs from a large health insurance administrative database (MarketScan) with surveillance data. METHODS: We computed and compared STI rates for 2005-10 from MarketScan and national surveillance data for three major nonviral STIs (i.e. chlamydia (Chlamydia trachomatis), gonorrhoea (Neisseria gonorrhoeae) and syphilis (Treponema pallidum)). For administrative data, we assessed the sensitivity of the rates to enrollee inclusion criteria: continuous (≥320 member-days) versus all enrollees. Relative rates were computed for 5-year age groups and by gender. RESULTS: The administrative database rates were significantly lower (P<0.01) than those in the national surveillance data, except for syphilis in females. Gonorrhoea and syphilis rates based on administrative data were significantly lower (P<0.01) for all enrollees versus continuous enrollees only. The relative STI rates by age group from the administrative data were similar to those in the surveillance data. CONCLUSIONS: Although absolute STI rates in administrative data were lower than in the surveillance data, relative STI rates from administrative data were consistent with national surveillance data. For gonorrhoea and syphilis, the estimated rates from administrative data were sensitive to the enrollee inclusion criteria. Future studies should examine the potential for administrative data to complement surveillance data.