Measles and rubella in Italy, e-learning course for health care workers

Abstract

Introduction. Since 2003, strategic plans for the elimination of measles and congenital
rubella have been adopted in the World Health Organization European Region. In Italy,
a network of reference laboratories for measles and rubella (MoRoNet) has been recently
implemented to ensure high-quality laboratory investigation for the confirmation of
cases and outbreaks. Training among health care workers (HCWs) is one of the tasks of
MoRoNet and an e-learning course was produced to improve the knowledge on international
and national elimination plans and laboratory surveillance for measles and rubella.
Methods. The course, based on the problem based learning methodology, was offered
free of charge. Data about all participants and those who completed the course have
been collected and analysed.
Results. 5822 participants enrolled and 3995 (69%) completed the course; comparison
between pre- and post-test shows a significant improvement in knowledge. The average
score obtained from the satisfaction questionnaire is 4.5 out of 5.
Discussion and conclusions. Course’s results are satisfactory, and data show a significant
improvement in knowledge among participants. Most of them were satisfied with
content, learning methodology and platform. Moreover, this course represents one of
the possible strategies to overcome resistance and mistrust about vaccinations among
HCWs.