Real World Feedback: How Well Did the Virtual Training Academy Prepare California's COVID-19 Contact Tracing Workforce?
To effectively respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, California had to quickly mobilize a substantial number of case investigators (CIs) and contact tracers (CTs). This workforce was comprised primarily of redirected civil servants with diverse educational and professional backgrounds. The purpose of th...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2022-06-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Public Health |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2022.857674/full |
| _version_ | 1811344441971048448 |
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| author | Miranda Westfall Maeve Forster Olivia Golston Kelly D. Taylor Karen White Michael J. A. Reid Alina Dorian Michael L. Prelip Shira Shafir |
| author_facet | Miranda Westfall Maeve Forster Olivia Golston Kelly D. Taylor Karen White Michael J. A. Reid Alina Dorian Michael L. Prelip Shira Shafir |
| author_sort | Miranda Westfall |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | To effectively respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, California had to quickly mobilize a substantial number of case investigators (CIs) and contact tracers (CTs). This workforce was comprised primarily of redirected civil servants with diverse educational and professional backgrounds. The purpose of this evaluation was to understand whether the weeklong, remote course developed to train California's CI/CT workforce (i.e., Virtual Training Academy) adequately prepared trainees for deployment. From May 2020 to February 2021, 8,141 individuals completed the training. A survey administered ~3 weeks post-course assessed two measures of overall preparedness: self-perceived interviewing proficiency and self-perceived job preparedness. Bivariate analyses were used to examine differences in preparedness scores by education level, career background, and whether trainees volunteered to join the COVID-19 workforce or were assigned by their employers. There were no significant differences in preparedness by education level. Compared to trainees from non-public health backgrounds, those from public health fields had higher self-perceived interviewing proficiency (25.1 vs. 23.3, p < 0.001) and job preparedness (25.7 vs. 24.0, p < 0.01). Compared to those who were assigned, those who volunteered to join the workforce had lower self-perceived job preparedness (23.8 vs. 24.9, p = 0.02). While there were some statistically significant differences by trainee characteristics, the practical significance was small (<2-point differences on 30-point composite scores), and it was notable that there were no differences by education level. Overall, this evaluation suggests that individuals without bachelor's degrees or health backgrounds can be rapidly trained and deployed to provide critical disease investigation capacity during public health emergencies. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-13T19:47:23Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-98d2553d63e247dcb90e2f7105ce7501 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2296-2565 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-13T19:47:23Z |
| publishDate | 2022-06-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Public Health |
| spelling | doaj.art-98d2553d63e247dcb90e2f7105ce75012022-12-22T02:32:40ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Public Health2296-25652022-06-011010.3389/fpubh.2022.857674857674Real World Feedback: How Well Did the Virtual Training Academy Prepare California's COVID-19 Contact Tracing Workforce?Miranda Westfall0Maeve Forster1Olivia Golston2Kelly D. Taylor3Karen White4Michael J. A. Reid5Alina Dorian6Michael L. Prelip7Shira Shafir8Fielding School of Public Health, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United StatesInstitute for Global Health Sciences, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, United StatesFielding School of Public Health, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United StatesInstitute for Global Health Sciences, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, United StatesInstitute for Global Health Sciences, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, United StatesInstitute for Global Health Sciences, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, United StatesFielding School of Public Health, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United StatesFielding School of Public Health, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United StatesFielding School of Public Health, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United StatesTo effectively respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, California had to quickly mobilize a substantial number of case investigators (CIs) and contact tracers (CTs). This workforce was comprised primarily of redirected civil servants with diverse educational and professional backgrounds. The purpose of this evaluation was to understand whether the weeklong, remote course developed to train California's CI/CT workforce (i.e., Virtual Training Academy) adequately prepared trainees for deployment. From May 2020 to February 2021, 8,141 individuals completed the training. A survey administered ~3 weeks post-course assessed two measures of overall preparedness: self-perceived interviewing proficiency and self-perceived job preparedness. Bivariate analyses were used to examine differences in preparedness scores by education level, career background, and whether trainees volunteered to join the COVID-19 workforce or were assigned by their employers. There were no significant differences in preparedness by education level. Compared to trainees from non-public health backgrounds, those from public health fields had higher self-perceived interviewing proficiency (25.1 vs. 23.3, p < 0.001) and job preparedness (25.7 vs. 24.0, p < 0.01). Compared to those who were assigned, those who volunteered to join the workforce had lower self-perceived job preparedness (23.8 vs. 24.9, p = 0.02). While there were some statistically significant differences by trainee characteristics, the practical significance was small (<2-point differences on 30-point composite scores), and it was notable that there were no differences by education level. Overall, this evaluation suggests that individuals without bachelor's degrees or health backgrounds can be rapidly trained and deployed to provide critical disease investigation capacity during public health emergencies.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2022.857674/fullCOVID-19case investigationcontact tracingpublic health workforcepublic health preparedness |
| spellingShingle | Miranda Westfall Maeve Forster Olivia Golston Kelly D. Taylor Karen White Michael J. A. Reid Alina Dorian Michael L. Prelip Shira Shafir Real World Feedback: How Well Did the Virtual Training Academy Prepare California's COVID-19 Contact Tracing Workforce? Frontiers in Public Health COVID-19 case investigation contact tracing public health workforce public health preparedness |
| title | Real World Feedback: How Well Did the Virtual Training Academy Prepare California's COVID-19 Contact Tracing Workforce? |
| title_full | Real World Feedback: How Well Did the Virtual Training Academy Prepare California's COVID-19 Contact Tracing Workforce? |
| title_fullStr | Real World Feedback: How Well Did the Virtual Training Academy Prepare California's COVID-19 Contact Tracing Workforce? |
| title_full_unstemmed | Real World Feedback: How Well Did the Virtual Training Academy Prepare California's COVID-19 Contact Tracing Workforce? |
| title_short | Real World Feedback: How Well Did the Virtual Training Academy Prepare California's COVID-19 Contact Tracing Workforce? |
| title_sort | real world feedback how well did the virtual training academy prepare california s covid 19 contact tracing workforce |
| topic | COVID-19 case investigation contact tracing public health workforce public health preparedness |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2022.857674/full |
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