There is a high prevalence of leprosy in the Amazon region of Brazil. We have developed a distance education course in leprosy for training staff of the Family Health Teams (FHTs). The course was made available through a web portal. Tele-educational resources were mediated by professors and coordinators, and included the use of theoretical content available through the web, discussion lists, Internet chat, activity diaries, 3-D video animations (Virtual Human on Leprosy), classes in video streaming and case simulation. Sixty-five FHT staff members were enrolled. All of them completed the course and 47 participants received a certificate at the end of the course. At the end of the course, 48 course-evaluation questionnaires were answered. A total of 47 participants (98%) considered the course as excellent. The results demonstrate the feasibility of an interactive, tele-education model as an educational resource for staff in isolated regions. Improvements in diagnostic skills should increase diagnostic suspicion of leprosy and may contribute to early detection.
BT - Journal of telemedicine and telecare C1 - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19246604?dopt=Abstract CN - PAIXAO 2009 DA - 2009 DO - 10.1258/jtt.2008.080704 IS - 2 J2 - J Telemed Telecare LA - eng N2 -There is a high prevalence of leprosy in the Amazon region of Brazil. We have developed a distance education course in leprosy for training staff of the Family Health Teams (FHTs). The course was made available through a web portal. Tele-educational resources were mediated by professors and coordinators, and included the use of theoretical content available through the web, discussion lists, Internet chat, activity diaries, 3-D video animations (Virtual Human on Leprosy), classes in video streaming and case simulation. Sixty-five FHT staff members were enrolled. All of them completed the course and 47 participants received a certificate at the end of the course. At the end of the course, 48 course-evaluation questionnaires were answered. A total of 47 participants (98%) considered the course as excellent. The results demonstrate the feasibility of an interactive, tele-education model as an educational resource for staff in isolated regions. Improvements in diagnostic skills should increase diagnostic suspicion of leprosy and may contribute to early detection.
PY - 2009 SP - 64 EP - 7 T2 - Journal of telemedicine and telecare TI - A university extension course in leprosy: telemedicine in the Amazon for primary healthcare. UR - http://jtt.sagepub.com/content/15/2/64.full.pdf+html VL - 15 SN - 1758-1109 ER -