Healthcare providers in all regions of Arkansas will be surveyed to assess knowledge, attitudes, and perceptions regarding vector-borne diseases. Providers will be sent a questionnaire regarding knowledge of treatment, diagnosis, and public health reporting awareness. Responses will then be compared by region of practice within the state, specialty, type of facility the provider is affiliated with and degree. This comparison will ultimately allow us to develop targeted clinical educational programs and materials. Additionally, information will be collected about preferred routes of clinician continuing education presentations or material pertaining to tick-borne and mosquito borne disease.
The Arkansas Department of Health employs community health nursing specialists (CHNS) and community health promotion specialists (CHPS). CHNS and CHPS offer a variety of health trainings and resources for Arkansas schools and act as a liaison between the Arkansas Department and school nurses and health teachers. The National Association of School Nurses has developed a free learning module on prevention, education and care of tick-borne illnesses for school nurses. We will promote and disseminate this module through the CHNS and CHPS to school nurses statewide to educate them about t the pathophysiology of tick-borne illnesses and their management in the school setting. Participants receive 1.0 CNE contact hour. https://www.pathlms.com/nasn/courses/618
Community Outreach and Education
The community outreach and education component will focus on three elements: enhancing awareness, improving knowledge, and developing skills.
Enhance Awareness
Focus on why citizens should care and why mosquito control is important. Also integral to enhancing awareness is being mindful of how to inspire citizens to improve knowledge and develop skills.
Goals
1. Provide a clear, concise message supported by local examples.
2. Foster awareness of individual responsibility towards mosquito control.
3. Acknowledge local initiatives with the support of other partners, to improve and maintain mosquito control and abatement efforts.
b. Develop a contact list for all high schools in the state and send out information about the event in the early spring
c. Create a PowerPoint curriculum that teachers can download on our website or conduct a webinar to train on best practices and protocols Registration would begin in the late spring and kits would be mailed in August.
Improve Knowledge
Represents a more formal, intensive, interactive and educational effort where there is a specific teaching objective aimed at increasing the level of the audience’s knowledge of vector borne diseases and prevention. We will focus on activities related to what citizens can do.
Goals
1. Improve knowledge about zoonotic diseases and prevention
2. Enhance understanding of practices and behaviors and encourage direct actions
3. Foster individual and community engagement and empowerment
4. Enhance understanding of specific issues for citizens and communities.
Develop Skills
Key characteristics of skills development actions include developing specific skills in a small subset of target audiences, increasing expertise in implementing vector control efforts, identifying best practices to measure success, examining ways to replicate successful efforts, and consolidating approaches and standardizing expectations
Goals
Provide tools to enable to foster leadership, and take action
Build a statewide cadre of individuals trained in mosquito abatement and vector control
Provide support to volunteers and encourage peer education.
Support projects that build on awareness and knowledge and connect back to the community
