Brown University experts team up with Project HOPE to provide COVID-19 training for health workers

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Project HOPE today announced it is teaming up with the Center for Human Rights and Humanitarian Studies at the Watson Institute of Brown University to develop and implement a COVID-19 training program for health workers to rapidly scale-up response efforts in high-risk countries.

“As confirmed cases of COVID-19 increase here in the United States, we must not forget this is a global pandemic that requires a robust and well-coordinated global response. If just one country is unable to contain the spread of COVID-19, everyone around the world will continue to be at risk for a very long time,” said Rabih Torbay, President and CEO at Project HOPE. “That’s why we’re partnering with the experts at Brown University to develop a world-class infection control and prevention training for health workers in at-risk countries, and we’ll also make the curriculum publicly available so doctors and nurses worldwide can benefit.” 

“We are excited to be partnering with Project HOPE on this important training. Health workers are the most valuable resource of any nation’s healthcare system, and we need to ensure that they are well trained all over the world to protect themselves and care for patients during this worldwide pandemic,” said Adam Levine, Director of the Center for Human Rights and Humanitarian Studies at the Watson Institute of Brown University. 

This COVID-19 training will teach and evaluate trainees on core competencies, including biology and transmission mechanisms; infection prevention and control; contact tracing; screening and triage; diagnosis and management; stabilization and resuscitation; health facility operations and surge capacity; and risk communication and public health messaging. The training will utilize the Training-of-Trainers model to engage master trainers and coach new trainers, allowing Project HOPE and the Center for Human Rights and Humanitarian Studies to quickly build a cadre of competent instructors who can then teach the material to other health workers in their community.

To ensure health facilities worldwide can quickly benefit from this training, the curriculum is being designed for widespread replication and will be publicly available once finalized. Given global travel restrictions, Project HOPE and the Center for Human Rights and Humanitarian Studies are considering various platforms for training delivery, including teletraining as well as online, interactive training modules. Project HOPE plans to deliver this training in North Macedonia and Kosovo in the next month before further expansion to additional countries.

This training is only one part of a much larger COVID-19 response effort by Project HOPE, which includes supporting frontline health workers in China as well as expanding support into North Macedonia, Kosovo, Colombia, Indonesia and Ethiopia.

Project HOPE is one of the only international relief organizations with a response team on the ground in China for the COVID-19 outbreak. Over the past two months, Project HOPE has delivered a total of nearly 5 million facemasks as well as isolation gowns, protective coveralls, exam gloves, and other protective gear to hospitals in Hubei, Yunan, Jiangsu, Anhui, and Sichuan provinces and to Shanghai. Project HOPE is also providing lifesaving medical equipment to support patient care and treatment now and long into the future, including ventilators, medical air compressors, and disinfection machines. 

For more information on Project HOPE’s response to the coronavirus outbreak, visit www.projecthope.org.

About Project HOPE

Project HOPE operates around the world wherever the need is greatest, working side-by-side with health care workers and their communities, addressing the greatest public health challenges to enable people to live their best lives. We respond to disasters and health crises and stay on in communities long after disaster strikes to help find solutions to epidemics and any other neglected health needs.

About The Center for Human Rights and Humanitarian Studies

The Center for Human Rights and Humanitarian Studies at Brown University's Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs, is committed to promoting a more just, peaceful, and secure world by furthering a deeper understanding of global human rights and humanitarian challenges, and encouraging collaboration between local communities, academics, and practitioners to develop innovative solutions to these challenges.