Case Study: Vaccine Elearning Project Educates Texas Public on Child Immunizations

Client: Texas Department of State Health Services
Industry: Health/Medical, Government
Project Life: 2009 – Present
Website: www.vaccineeducationonline.org

Background

The mission of the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) is to improve health and well being in Texas, including that of its children. There are over 27 million people in the state of Texas and over 6.5 million children between the ages of 0 and 18. Ongoing public education is imperative for any state to have a successful child and adolescent immunization program.

The Issue

Each state is monitored by the Center for Disease Control to ensure that its population is adhering to the recommended vaccination schedules for all ages. Geographically, Texas spans more than 260,000 square miles, comprising everything from high-density urban areas to remote small towns.

• How do you create awareness reaching the numerous audiences that can have an impact on vaccination levels?
• How do you educate them in order to raise the state’s coverage levels?

The Solution

Working with DSHS, Microassist and the agency’s Immunization Branch developed a comprehensive curriculum of courses targeting key audiences throughout the state to create broader awareness — the general public, healthcare providers, local health departments, local health service regions, school personnel, and child care and camp directors.

DSHS subject matter experts developed content for more than 20 online courses that covered topics such as: ImmTrac vaccine registry, childcare requirements, school immunization requirements, preventable diseases, adolescent and adult vaccine standards, storage and handling, eligibility, enrollment, and program management. Microassist translated that content into effective, self-paced online elearning modules that can be accessed anywhere, anytime. Microassist also designed and maintains the learning management system (LMS) used to host and deliver the courses.

Results

The Texas Vaccine Education Online program launched in 2009. To this day, DSHS continues to see the elearning course delivery system as an effective component in achieving the agency’s public awareness goals.

Microassist continues to partner with DSHS, designing courses targeted to specific audiences involved in administering vaccines and maintaining vaccine records. All courses continue to be maintained and updated, and are delivered free of charge to all audiences and the general public through the Texas Vaccine Education Online – Immunization Branch website.

The organization, design, and launch of the site proved valuable in

• Training large, widely distributed audiences — more than 345,000 registered users have accessed the site since its inception.
• Reducing total cost of learning management system (LMS) ownership
• Freeing in-house training resources to deal with complex, specialized problems
• Maintaining technology coherency, architecture, and security 

More Information

Online and elearning projects can be very effective in reaching and informing new audiences, even if dispersed across many locations. Contact our team to learn more about our custom elearning development services.

Image credit: Quinn Dombrowski: Day 354: First Shot |  December 20, 2013 | Creative Commons License