Effectiveness of Video-Based Online Training for Health Care Workers to Prevent COVID-19 Infection: An Experience at a Tertiary Care Level Institute, Uttarakhand, India

Abstract

Purpose Amidst the current COVID-19 pandemic, traditional teaching methodology took a back foot. However, an urgent need for training health care worker (HCW) on preventive measures for COVID-19 infection was the need of the hour. Keeping in mind the precautionary measures required to combat COVID-19 infection, the only promising option for training was by adopting an online learning method. This study was undertaken to determine the effectiveness of video-based training using online platforms for infection prevention and control (IPC) training during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods A quasi-experimental study, with only one experimental group comprising of HCWs, was undertaken to assess the effect of intervention which included video-assisted teaching-learning regarding IPC measures with a special focus on COVID-19 at a tertiary care Institute in North India. Online sessions were conducted on Do’s and Don’ts, Hand Hygiene, donning and doffing of personal protective equipment (PPE), cleaning and disinfection, and bio-medical waste (BMW) management with the help of pre-recorded videos which was pre-validated. The session was followed by online interaction with participants by a single resource person. Pre-test and post-test were conducted through google forms before commencement and at the end of the online session respectively. The data were analyzed in terms of descriptive frequencies and percentages of different domains to describe the pre- and post-test knowledge. Results A total of 576 participants were included in the study. There was a statistically significant gain in scores of all questions related to cleaning and disinfection; and BMW. No significant change was observed in knowledge regarding the sequence of doffing (p-value: 0.94). The result of pairwise comparisons pre-test and post-test scores showed that intervention through video-assisted teaching-learning resulted in improvement of knowledge which was found to be statistically significant (p-value < 0.001). Conclusion Video-assisted teaching-learning through virtual platforms effectively trained health personnel on infection prevention and control practices during the COVID-19 pandemic. Video-assisted training can successfully be handled by a single resource person to impart the knowledge and skill to the trainee. Virtual teaching and learning is a feasible and efficient method to deliver training to HCWs on infection control practices and this methodology may be adopted in the future for several other training in manpower crunch situations, similar restrictive circumstances as posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.