The World Health Organization African regional training course for mid-level immunization managers: lessons and future directions

Knowledge and Skill Needs in E-course Training of an Expanded Program for Immunization Staff in Thailand: A Mixed-method Design

Background:

This study was conducted to examine essential content needs in E-course training to improve the knowledge and skills of immunization staff members in Thailand.

Methods:

This study used a mixed-method research design. Quantitative methodology was used to study 449 staff members of government care facilities in the Expanded Program on Immunization (EPI). Surveys were conducted by using the perceived needs for immunization training questionnaire. Qualitative methodology employed in-depth interview guidelines on immunization content that were used to interview 14 staff members at EPI. The quantitative data were analyzed by using descriptive statistics and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). Interview data were analyzed in content analysis.

Results:

The participants were immunization staff members of three positions: registered nurses, pharmacists and public health technical officers. The participants had different E-course training content needs concerning vaccine-report registration, administering the vaccines and dealing with adverse events following immunization (AEFI) with a statistical significance of .05. This was consistent with the findings from in-depth interviews, which showed staff members had both varying and connected work responsibilities, giving members from all three groups a need for the same basic knowledge pertaining to immunization. In some aspects, staff members required different training content details depending on job descriptions. Public health technical officers were found to require details on vaccine-report registration. Nurses required knowledge dealing with AEFI and administering the vaccines. Pharmacists needed details on the cold-chain system the most.

Conclusion:

Executives at the policy level should specify essential content requiring development for each position in addition to designing training models to meet the needs of EPI staff, enabling access and promoting effective use.

Immunisation program training needs in 9 countries in the African Region

INTRODUCTION

regular in-service training of healthcare workers within the immunization program is critical to address the program needs created by the introduction of new vaccines and technologies, as well as the expanding scope of immunisation programmes beyond infant immunization and towards a life-course approach. National immunization programs conduct in-service training of health workers depending on program needs and particularly when new program elements are introduced.

METHODS

we conducted a survey of national and provincial level immunization program staff in 9 countries in the World Health Organization (WHO) African Region to determine the perceived needs and preferred training methods for capacity building in immunisation.

RESULTS

nearly all of the respondents (98.3%) stated that there are skill gaps at their respective levels in the immunization program which require training, with 88% indicating that mid-level program management (MLM) training was needed to train new program staff, while 78% indicated program performance gaps and 60% of the respondents stated that refresher training is needed. Program areas identified as top priorities for training included immunisation monitoring and data quality, sustainable immunization financing, adverse events monitoring and community mobilization. More than three quarters of the respondents (78%) think that online MLM training is adequate to address program gaps. Only four of the 9 immunization program managers indicated that they regularly monitor the number of MLM trained staff within their national program.

CONCLUSION

there is a strong need for in-service training of immunization program officers in the countries surveyed, especially at the subnational levels. Program managers should conduct regular monitoring of the training status of staff, as well as conduct detailed training needs assessments in order to tailor the training approaches and topics. Online training provides an acceptable approach for capacity building of immunization program staff.