Reproductive health and family planning programs are being designed and implemented all over the world. These programs often lack focus, a distinct target audience, the appropriate promotional materials, monitoring mechanisms and evaluation plans. Strategic health communication program design can help overcome these limitations. The Center for Communication Programs (CCP) has developed a reproductive health and family planning program design course for students in the Johns Hopkins University Distance Education Division's Graduate Certificate program in Public Health and the Internet-Masters in Public Health Degree programs. To date, students in the US and overseas have taken this course.
The course makes use of an Internet-based web-site with instructional materials such as on-line lectures, videos, readings, and asynchronous discussion forums. A country/region specific data-to-decision making software tool, called SCOPE, is also used to teach CCP's "P" Process, a 5-step strategic health communication program design framework. Students work in teams of 2 to 3 using web-based materials and the SCOPE software to develop family planning and reproductive health program activities. A teaching assistant facilitates the course. To date, HIV/AIDS and STD programs in both Baltimore, Maryland and Kenya have been designed as course projects.
This session will be used to describe evaluation results from three student cohorts that have taken the course. The different lessons learned from the course layout, CCP's perspective on the definition and role of distance education, and how students have used the materials from this course in professional settings will all be featured.
Learning Objectives: 1. To learn simple techniques by which to evaluate a FP/RH Program Design course in a distance learning environment. 2. To develop a vocabulary around the types of multi-media tools necessary to create an engaging, interactive and useful distance education FP/RH Program design course. 3. To assess the value of a proctored course versus a self-guided distance learning educational environment
Keywords: Distance Learning, Reproductive Health
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: Johns Hopkins University's Center for Communicaiton Programs and Distance Education Division
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.