starting a cardiovascular disease prevention program with limited ressources
two-week workshop
(Institute
of Social and Preventive Medicine, University of Lausanne, Switzerland)
The workshop aims at teaching and
practicing the main elements needed to initiate a sustainable program of prevention and
control of cardiovascular diseases (CVD) and some other
related non-communicable diseases (NCD) in regions with limited resources. It
combines teaching sessions on the recent scientific knowledge and an extensive practice of
analysis and program development tools. In general, the course is organized in the
requesting region/country from where participants come from.
The objectives of the workshop are:
· To raise awareness of the participants on the
emerging epidemic of NCD/CVD in low and middle income countries.
· To enable the participants to identify and
analyze the current CVD situation in their respective countries.
· To equip the participants with the knowledge
and skills needed to initiate a prevention and control program of CVD.
· To build a network of health professionals in
low and middle income countries in the field of prevention and control of CVD.
· The workshop generally takes place in the
region/country where the participants come from. This avoids traveling expenses to
the participants and it helps ensuring that the content of the course (epidemiologic
assessment, development of a prevention program) is adapted to local needs.
· The workshop is held in a secluded place
(e.g. a hotel away from a main center) that offers accommodation facilities for the
sojourn of all participants during the entire workshop’s period.
· The workshop must have a conference room for
~20 persons (with air-conditioned facility in hot climates).
· Visual aids, computers, LCD-projector,
photocopier are brought in by the organizer (IUMSP) for the duration of the course.
· The workshop can be given on request of
organizations/individuals from low or middle income countries and date and location (in
the host country) are then chosen accordingly.
The seminar is divided almost equally in:
· lectures
to review the recent knowledge on CVD and determinants as well as the main principles for
prevention,
· practice,
generally within small groups, to develop
the skills necessary for the initiation of CVD prevention and control program.
Lectures
aim at delivering the minimal information needed to develop a program in terms of
relevance, advocacy, goal setting, and actual organization. All lectures are completed
with ‘check lists’ and handouts as resources for the participants. A quick
individual assessment is performed at the end of the workshop as an indication of
knowledge integration.
Practice
aims at training participants with tools needed at the various steps of program
development: epidemiologic relevance, situation analysis, advocacy, identification of
resources, design, implementation, and evaluation. Participants will conduct, within small
groups, a rapid epidemiologic assessment in the field of CVD/NCD (during the first week)
and draft the elements of a hypothetical comprehensive CVD prevention and control program
(during the second week) adapted to the situation of the participants’
country/region. The main principle of the training sessions is ‘learning by
doing’. Along this training, participants will use computers and word-processor,
spreadsheet, and statistical software. No previous computer literacy is requested and
computers will be made available (at least one computer per group). Participants will
present their work (epidemiologic assessment, program draft) in plenary for critical
appraisal and learning.
Health professionals from countries with
limited resources, preferably with some experience in public health and/or health research
(at least two years of working experience). Fluency in English is requested for course in
English. Alternatively the course can be given in French (in which case fluency in French
is requested). The number of participants is limited to approximately 15-20.
The core group of facilitators include Dr.
Pascal Bovet, MPH and Dr. Jean-Pierre Gervasoni, MPH from the Group of Cardiovascular
Disease and Epidemiological Transition (GCT) of the IUMSP, Lausanne. The IUMSP is a
collaborating center of the World Health Organization since 1994 for population-based
cardiovascular research and prevention in populations in health transition. The faculty of
the workshop includes generally also one or two other facilitators either from IUMSP or
from other Universities.
Computers are available for the duration of
the course by the organizer (IUMSP), with at least one computer per group (of 4-6
participants). Although some computer literacy is an advantage, the seminar allows enough
time for never-users to get acquainted with computers under the guidance of facilitators.
A short evaluation form will be given at
the end of each day. A more detailed evaluation form will be filled out by participants at
the end of the course and combined with a group discussion with the facilitators.
The workshop is accredited with the
‘TropEd’ international health program. It corresponds to 3 ECTS (European Credit
Transfer System) towards the European Master in International Health. An individual
assessment (multiple choice question) is performed at the end of the workshop to appraise
the theoretical knowledge of participant acquired during the lectures of the workshop. A
certificate is delivered to participants at the end of the workshop.
· The regular fee for attending the workshop is
1200-1800 US$ per participant (including full-board accommodation), depending of the
location of the workshop. This sum is due at the moment of acceptance.
· In certain instances, a few scholarships can
be granted for accommodation expenses (maximum of 4 to 5 participants).
· Special arrangements, including the
organization of the workshop at low or no cost, can be considered in certain instances,
particularly when the workshop is requested by a health organization of a low- or
middle-income country and if financial support is granted by a sponsor.
IUMSP, Swiss Agency for Cooperation and Development, World Health Organization.
iumsp@chuv.ch
Workshop
program
Starting
a cardiovascular disease prevention program with limited resources
Day
0 |
Opening
(evening) · Overview
of workshop · Presentation
of participants |
Day
1 |
Lectures · Introduction
and preview of the week and the day · Health
transition and emerging NCD in developing countries (L) · The
situation of NCD/CVD in the host country (L, if possible by local participant &
discussion) · Population
and high risk strategies (L) · Basic
computer skills using Excel and Word (L) Practice (workgroup, discussion) · Practice
of basic computer skills (GW) · Selection
of a research question for a small scale Research Project related to CVD in local area to
be completed during Week 1 (RP) including elements of study design and planning (GW,
2 hours) |
Day
2 |
Lectures· Preview
of the day · Review
of modifiable cardiovascular risk factors (L) · Review
of selected community programs for the primary prevention of CVD (L) · Organization
and planning of research projects (L) · Study
design of survey including selection of core variables (L) Practice (workgroup, discussion) · Summary
of previous day · Presentation
by Groups of research question for RP and discussion · Prepare
simple protocol for RP including simple background, research question, methods and plan of
action (GW) · Select
questions of simple questionnaire for RP (GW) |
Day
3 |
Lectures · Preview
of the day · Study
design (L) · Validity:
sampling, confounding, and selected biases (L) Practice (workgroup, discussion) · Summary
of previous day · Presentation
by Groups of questionnaire for RP · Preparation
of final questionnaire for RP (GW) · Each
Group hands in final questionnaire with proper layout (by midnight) |
Day
4 |
Lectures · Preparation
of data mask and principles for data entry using Excel (L) · Simple
analysis: summary statistics (L) Practice
(workgroup, discussion) · Fieldwork
in groups: data collection (GW, morning) · Preparation
of data mask using Excel (L) (GW with tutors) · Entry
of data of RP (GW with tutors) |
Day
5 |
Lectures· Preview
of the day · Simple
analysis: rates and risk measures · Simple
analysis: stratified analysis, regression (L) Practice (workgroup, discussion) Summary
of previous day Analysis
of RP data (GW with tutor, half day) Cleaning
of RP data (GW with tutors) |
Day
6 |
Lectures · Preview
of the day · Report
writing and presentation of results (L) Practice (workgroup, discussion) · Summary
of previous day · Presentation
by Groups of results and discussion · Report
writing of study research of Week 1 (Groups hand in reports by midnight) |
Day
7 |
Day
off (social program) |
Day
8 |
Lectures · Summary
of first week and preview of second week · Linking
health research and policy making (L) · Health
education – models of behavioral change (L) · Identifying
stakeholders and resources for program development (L) · Working
with the mass media (L) · Program
planning (L) · Program
evaluation (L) · Strategies
for prevention (L) · Example
of a community based prevention program Practice
(workgroup, discussion) · Issues
for a community based program in local context: discussion · Situation
analysis and priority setting in local context (Group work) |
Day
9 |
Lectures· Preview
of the day · Tobacco
control (L) · Hypertension
control (L) · Other
risk factors for CVD and issues of control (L) Practice (workgroup, discussion) · Summary
of previous day · Individual
written assessment of knowledge (30 min) · Designing
a comprehensive program for the prevention and control of CVD/NCD relevant to the local
situation (GW with tutors acting as consultants) (½ day) |
Day
10 |
Lectures · Preview
of the day Practice (workgroup, discussion) · Summary
of previous day · Dissemination
of RP results to local authorities (1-2 h) · Designing
a comprehensive program for the prevention and control of CVD/NCD relevant to the local
situation (GW with tutors acting as consultants (full day) |
Day
11 |
Practice (workgroup, discussion) · Presentation
by each Group of prevention programs and discussion (tutors act as a board of local policy
makers, health authorities and funding agencies) · Evaluation
of the course Closing
ceremony & certificates |
L
= lecture; GW = group work (typically 4-6 persons per group)
Computers
are available for group work and for individual training