Distance education for tobacco reduction with Inuit frontline health workers

• Published in: International Journal of Circumpolar Health
• Main Authors: Rob Collins, Merryl Hammond, Catherine L. Carry, Dianne Kinnon, Joan Killulark, Janet Nevala
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Taylor & Francis Group 2013
• Subjects: Inuit; health workers; distance education; self-directed learning; tobacco reduction; Canada; Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine; RC955-962; Arctic; Circumpolar Health; International Journal of Circumpolar Health; inuit
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.3402/ijch.v72i0.21078; https://doaj.org/article/7fa06ec6d7f24df29eb5915847cb79e5

Background . Tobacco reduction is a major priority in Canadian Inuit communities. However, many Inuit frontline health workers lacked the knowledge, confidence and support to address the tobacco epidemic. Given vast distances, high costs of face-to-face training and previous successful pilots using distance education, this method was chosen for a national tobacco reduction course. Objective . To provide distance education about tobacco reduction to at least 25 frontline health workers from all Inuit regions of Canada. Design . Promising practices globally were assessed in a literature survey. The National Inuit Tobacco Task Group guided the project. Participants were selected from across Inuit Nunangat. They chose a focus from a “menu” of 6 course options, completed a pre-test to assess individual learning needs and chose which community project(s) to complete. Course materials were mailed, and trainers provided intensive, individualized support through telephone, fax and e-mail. The course ended with an open-book post-test. Follow-up support continued for several months post-training. Results . Of the 30 participants, 27 (90%) completed the course. The mean pre-test score was 72% (range: 38–98%). As the post-test was done using open books, everyone scored 100%, with a mean improvement of 28% (range: 2–62%). Conclusions . Although it was often challenging to contact participants through phone, a distance education approach was very practical in a northern context. Learning is more concrete when it happens in a real-life context. As long as adequate support is provided, we recommend individualized distance education to others working in circumpolar regions.