Experiences and challenges of pre-exposure prophylaxis initiation and retention among high-risk populations: qualitative insights among service providers in Thailand.

Objectives: Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) has been an essential element of the national combination prevention package and included in the Universal Health Coverage (UHC) of Thailand since 2019. As a part of the national monitoring and evaluation framework, this qualitative study aims to describe experiences and barriers concerning PrEP initiation and retention among service providers from both hospital and Key Population Led Health Service (KPLHS) settings under the country's UHC roll-out.

Methods: Between September and October 2020, ten focus group discussions with PrEP service providers from both hospitals and KPLHS across Thailand were conducted of which there were six hospitals, one health service center, three KPLHS.

A comparison of attitudes and knowledge of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) between hospital and Key Population Led Health Service providers: Lessons for Thailand's Universal Health Coverage implementation.

Background: HIV Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) has demonstrated efficacy and effectiveness among high-risk populations. In Thailand, PrEP has been included in the National Guidelines on HIV/AIDS Treatment and Prevention since 2014. As a part of the national monitoring and evaluation framework for Thailand's universal coverage inclusion, this cross-sectional survey was conducted to assess knowledge of, attitudes to and practice (KAP) of PrEP service providers in Thailand.

Application technology to fight the COVID-19 pandemic: Lessons learned in Thailand.

Demands to address the COVID-19 pandemic rapidly surpassed global resources. Successful implementation of application technology resulting in people taking greater control of their own health and medical and public health personnel improving efficiency was requested by authorities in Thailand to reduce the demand on health resources to meet the health needs of the people. This paper examines the creation and implementation of three real-time application technologies using a bottom-up approach in an attempt to examine COVID-19 challenges and highlight control measures.

Application technology to fight the COVID-19 pandemic: Lessons learned in Thailand.

Demands to address the COVID-19 pandemic rapidly surpassed global resources. Successful implementation of application technology resulting in people taking greater control of their own health and medical and public health personnel improving efficiency was requested by authorities in Thailand to reduce the demand on health resources to meet the health needs of the people. This paper examines the creation and implementation of three real-time application technologies using a bottom-up approach in an attempt to examine COVID-19 challenges and highlight control measures.

One Health Core Competency Domains.

The emergence of complex global challenges at the convergence of human, animal, and environmental health has catalyzed a movement supporting "One Health" approaches. Despite recognition of the importance of One Health approaches to address these complex challenges, little effort has been directed at identifying the seminal knowledge, skills, and attitudes necessary for individuals to successfully contribute to One Health efforts. Between 2008 and 2011, three groups independently embarked on separate initiatives to identify core competencies for professionals involved with One Health approaches.

Disaster behavioral health capacity: Findings from a multistate preparedness assessment.

Purpose: To identify gaps in disaster behavioral health, the Preparedness and Emergency Response Learning Center (PERL) at the University of Minnesota's School of Public Health supported the development and implementation of a multistate disaster behavioral health preparedness assessment. Information was gathered regarding worker knowledge of current disaster behavioral health capacity at the state and local level, and perceived disaster behavioral health training needs and preferences.

Methods: Between May and July 2015, 143 participants completed a 31-item uniform questionnaire over the telephone by a trained interviewer.

Improving Team Performance for Public Health Preparedness.

Objective: Between May 2010 and September 2011, the University of Minnesota School of Public Health partnered with the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) to assess the effect of exercises on team performance during public health emergency response.

Methods: Participants were divided into 3 research teams exposed to various levels of intervention. Groups consisted of a control group that was given standard MDH training exercises, a didactic group exposed to team dynamics and communication training, and a treatment group that received the didactic training in addition to a post-exercise facilitated debriefing.

Effectiveness of a motivational interviewing intervention on medication compliance.

This study investigated the effectiveness of training geriatric home-based primary care (HBPC) nursing staff in motivational interviewing (MI) techniques, with the goal of increasing patient medication adherence. Nursing staff received 4 hours of training in MI techniques from a licensed psychologist. Results indicated that the MI training increased medication adherence in the HBPC veteran sample by a small, but statistically significant, margin both 1 month and 6 months after the intervention.

Using gaming simulation to evaluate bioterrorism and emergency readiness training.

Introduction: The University of Minnesota: Simulations, Exercises and Effective Education: Preparedness and Emergency Response Learning Center uses simulations, which allow trainees to participate in realistic scenarios, to develop and evaluate competency.

Background/rationale: In a previous study, participants in Disaster in Franklin County: A Public Health Simulation demonstrated that prior bioterrorism and emergency readiness training (BT/ER) is significantly associated with better performance in a simulated emergency. We conducted a second analysis with a larger data set, remapping simulation questions to the Public Health Preparedness and Response Core Competency Model, Version 1.

Mobile phone use among Medical Reserve Corps coordinators and volunteers: an exploratory study.

Objective: To better understand how mobile phones can be used during emergency response, this study identifies a) current mobile phone use among Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) volunteers and coordinators in their daily lives and during response; b) challenges for mobile phone use during response; and c) areas for capacity building.

Design: In 2012, 459 MRC volunteers and coordinators responded to a 35-question survey conducted online through SurveyMonkey. Respondents were asked how they use their mobile phones in their daily lives and during response, and how they would like to use them during response.

One Health: Lessons Learned from East Africa.

Africa is faced with many of the most daunting challenges of our time. It comprises roughly 15% of the world's human population, and most of its countries are perpetually ranked "Low" on the United Nations' Human Development Index. On the other hand, Africa has arguably the largest proportion of intact natural ecosystems, biodiversity, and sociocultural capital and the lowest impact on global warming of any continent.

Games, simulations, and learning in emergency preparedness: a review of the literature.

Between 2007 and 2011, a comprehensive review of the literature was conducted to identify the usefulness of educational games and simulations in developing and evaluating the competency of public health professionals to prepare for, respond to, and recover from emergencies. This article presents an overview of the literature related to the use of games and simulations in education and training, summarizes key findings, identifies key features of gaming simulation design for educational effectiveness, and suggests that use of these emerging teaching and learning strategies be considered in the development of a comprehensive approach for creating and evaluating competency.

A longitudinal study of the impact of an emergency preparedness curriculum.

Objective: We conducted a longitudinal study to evaluate the impact of a curriculum designed to develop competency in emergency preparedness among public health professionals.

Methods: At six and 12 months following completion of one or more courses in the areas of emergency preparedness, response, and recovery, or in food protection, course participants were contacted and asked to identify if their participation allowed them to develop targeted competencies, identify important knowledge or skills they had acquired, provide examples of application of learning, and describe the impact of changes. Over five years, 36 sets of data were collected.

The evidence base for effectiveness of preparedness training: a retrospective analysis.

Objectives: In 2007, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) commissioned an Evidence-Based Gaps Collaboration Group to consider whether past experience could help guide future efforts to educate and train public health workers in responding to emergencies and disasters.

Methods: The Group searched the peer-reviewed literature for preparedness training articles meeting three criteria: publication during the period when CDC's Centers for Public Health Preparedness were fully operational, content relevant to emergency response operations, and content particular to the emergency response roles of public health professionals. Articles underwent both quantitative and qualitative analyses.

Using gaming simulation to evaluate bioterrorism and emergency readiness education.

Objective: We performed an outcome evaluation of the impact of public health preparedness training as a group comparison posttest design to determine the differences in the way individuals who had participated in training performed in a simulated emergency.

Methods: The Experimental Group 1 included students who had graduated from or were currently enrolled in the bioterrorism and emergency readiness (BT/ER) curriculum at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health. The comparison groups included individuals who had access to the Internet and were aware of the 2006 online simulation Disaster in Franklin County: A Public Health Simulation.

Demonstrating excellence in the scholarship of practice-based service for public health.

Practice-based scholarship in public health addresses community health issues. The accredited schools of public health (SPHs) have played a significant role in defining and implementing the multidisciplinary, interprofessional, ecological approach to improving the health and safety of communities through academic public health practice. These schools have addressed the challenges raised by the Institute of Medicine for enhancing academic-practice linkages.

Lifelong learning for public health practice education: a model curriculum for bioterrorism and emergency readiness.

In 2002, the University of Minnesota School of Public Health (UMNSPH) adopted an approach that supports basic, advanced, and continuing education curricula to train current and future public health workers. This model for lifelong learning for public health practice education allows for the integration of competency domains from the Council on Linkages Between Academia and Public Health Practice's core public health workforce competency levels and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Bioterrorism and Emergency Readiness Competencies. This article describes how UMNSPH has implemented the model through coordination with state planning efforts and needs assessments in the tristate region of Minnesota, North Dakota, and Wisconsin.

A flexible approach to training veterinarians in public health: an overview and early assessment of the DVM/MPH dual-degree program at the University of Minnesota.

As a result of the growing need for public-health veterinarians, novel educational programs are essential to train future public-health professionals. The University of Minnesota School of Public Health, in collaboration with the College of Veterinary Medicine, initiated a dual DVM/MPH program in 2002. This program provides flexibility by combining distance learning and on-campus courses offered through a summer public-health institute.

Competencies most valued by employers--Implications for master's-prepared occupational health nurses.

Educational institutions seek to prepare students to compete for positions in the workplace with a competency-based education. Employers are important stakeholders in the preparation of occupational health nurses. Competencies considered most valuable by employers will affect their hiring decisions.

Environmental health and nursing: piloting a technology-enhanced distance learning module.

The results of a pilot study evaluating a technology-enhanced distance learning module to impart environmental health core concepts to nurses are presented in this article. The internet-based module was developed for continuing professional education and imparts principles of adult education through interactive features including simulated clinical vignettes, an environmental justice case study, and hyperlinks to websites related to environmental protection and health regulation. Mean gains between pre- and post-tests; participant identification of adult learning principles as advanced by Knowles, Holton, and Swanson (1998); and satisfaction were measured among participating RNs (N = 34).

Public health and terrorism preparedness: cross-border issues.

On December 15, 2003, the Centers for Public Health Preparedness at the University of Minnesota and the University of Iowa convened the "Public Health and Terrorism Preparedness: Cross-Border Issues Roundtable." The purpose of the roundtable was to gather public health professionals and government agency representatives at the state, provincial, and local levels to identify unmet cross-border emergency preparedness and response needs and develop strategies for addressing these needs. Representatives from six state and local public health departments and three provincial governments were invited to identify cross-border needs and issues using a nominal group process.

Crosscutting competencies for occupational health and safety professionals.

A change from a quarter system to a semester system presented a convenient opportunity for faculty at the Midwest Center for Occupational Health and Safety (a 27-year-old National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health-sponsored education and research center) to evaluate the current curriculum. As part of this process faculty identified both individual and crosscutting competencies for four programs: Occupational Medicine, Occupational Health Nursing, Industrial Hygiene, and Occupational Injury Epidemiology and Control. Faculty identified potential competency sets using published literature, course objectives, and content summaries.

Genetic Counseling and Screening of Consanguineous Couples and Their Offspring: Recommendations of the National Society of Genetic Counselors.

The objective of this document is to provide recommendations for genetic counseling and screening for consanguineous couples (related as second cousins or closer) and their offspring with the goals of1. providing preconception reproductive options2. improving pregnancy outcome and identifying reproductive choices3.