Evaluation of Infection Prevention and Control Extension for Community Healthcare Outcome Clinic in Referal Hospitals in Tanzania.

Abstract

Abstract Background Project ECHO™ (Extension for Community Healthcare Outcome) is a telehealth initiative that aims to improve access to medical knowledge among healthcare workers (HCWs). Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) ECHO Clinic was implemented from April 2022 to January 2023 in Tanzania where HCWs from ten referral hospitals shared their experiences. The aim of this study was to evaluate the implementation of the IPC ECHO clinic, specifically by assessing enablers and barriers; and elicit recommendations for improvement and further scale-up. Methods An explanatory descriptive study design was conducted whereas both quantitative and qualitative methods of data collection were used. Results A total of 472 (47.2%) out 1000 targeted HCWs attended scheduled IPC ECHO session. Availability of infrastructure; facility management support; good coordination from the national team and availability of internet bundle were the enablers for the implementation of the clinic. Barriers included: lack of motivation among attendees; lack of Continuous Professional Development (CPD) points; shortage of staff; and poor internet connectivity. To improve implementation of IPC ECHO clinic it was recomended to: include IPC ECHO clinic in CPD initiatives; reviewing time for the sessions; provision of incentives for attendees; improve facilitation techniques; improve network connectivity; re-sensitization of HCWs: and scale up of IPC ECHO clinic. Conclusion Implementation of IPC ECHO clinic was successfully conducted. Scale-up of IPC ECHO clinic to other referral health facilities and primary health care facilities was recommended in order to facilitate knowledge sharing in the areas of IPC during this era of emerging and re–emerging diseases.