Training Delivery in the Health Sector
- Rodolfo Melia
- Nicola Hobby (Unlicensed)
A recent Lancet study estimated that 8.6 million preventable excess deaths occurred in low and middle-income countries (LMICs) in 2016. Nearly 60% of these deaths were due to receiving poor-quality or sub-standard primary health care. UHC could avert millions of deaths yearly, but only if investments into high-quality health systems accompany the expansion of service coverage.
Reducing preventable morbidity and mortality will require a health workforce trained with the skills to achieve clinical competency in their practice area(s), provided with adequate support and supervision, and deployed equitably in facilities and communities.
Traditionally, capacity-building in the health sector relies heavily on in-person training sessions. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has identified e-learning as an effective approach to sustain capacity-building. WHO states that capacity-building needs should be addressed in a targeted, cost-effective, scalable, sustainable, and integrated way. As a result, digital learning is emerging as an essential tool for Ministries of Health (MOHs) and implementing partners to improve the capacity of the health workforce sustainably, either on its own or by complementing in-person activities.
At PSI, our remote capacity-building initiatives aim to create course content and digital learning approaches that harness the technology already in the hands of frontline health workers. We aim to build and sustain their capacity while transforming behaviors for better health outcomes.
Our digital approaches remotely reach target audiences utilizing familiar and affordable platforms, with the capacity to scale and be financially sustainable. The use of chatbot-based learning approaches has been demonstrated to be cost-effective, scalable, and highly impactful delivery of technical health knowledge.
Chatbot-based learning has proven to be cost-effective and scalable, significantly impacting the dissemination of technical health knowledge.
PSI seeks to develop the Moodle e-Learning Chatbot as a Global Public Good, making it available to anyone interested in leveraging messaging chatbot platforms as an e-learning channel.
Using eLearning Chatbots Outside the Health Sector
The Moodle e-learning Chatbot isn't confined to the health sector alone. It is suitable for any content that can be configured as Chatbot-compatible content. For example, this could include teaching farmers sustainable and organic farming techniques, teaching low-income families budget management skills, or any topic you can imagine.