Ms Stephanie Grayston1
1Victoria Department Of Health, Melbourne, Australia
Background: It’s said that a project can be fast, cheap and good—pick two! In the case of education in infection prevention and control (IPC), content can be accurate, concise and comprehensible—pick two!
This presentation looks at a project to develop IPC eLearning modules for workers from non-health backgrounds. The Covid-19 pandemic has made it clear that everyone in our community needs some understanding of preventing and controlling infection. However, this crucial information is often communicated in language that is inaccessible to people who have low health literacy or low English proficiency.
Actions: A Victoria Department of Health team developed six modules of online learning for workers in aged care, disability services, education and other industries. Topics covered basic IPC: the Chain of Infection, Hand Hygiene, Personal Protective Equipment, Cleaning, Waste and Outbreaks. The modules aimed to increase health literacy at an accessible level of technological demand, content, and language. Language was graded down with the help of glossaries, grammatical control and selective use of scientific and health terminology. Technological tools were used to measure readability level.
Results: This series of IPC eLearning modules is now publicly available and is making its contribution to the health literacy of target workers. The developers found their balance between accuracy and comprehensibility; a balance that is always open to debate, refinement and improvement.
Conclusion: For IPC trainers, some familiarity with the factors that make language complex can help us lower barriers to understanding and make IPC knowledge more accessible to all.
Biography: Stephanie Grayston is an educator in the Victoria Department of Health’s Targeted Outbreak Management team where she recently managed a project to create a series of IPC eLearning modules. Her background is in English language education, language teacher training and curriculum design. She has worked as a coursebook writer and a developer of online courses. In the spirit of lifelong learning, she is proud to have recently completed the ACIPC Foundations of Infection Prevention and Control course.