Integrated Infectious Disease Capacity-Building Evaluation (IDCAP)

An Integrated Approach to Training Midlevel Healthcare Workers in Africa

In November 2008, Accordia received a three-year, $12.5 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to lead the Integrated Infectious Disease Capacity-Building Evaluation (IDCAP).

The global health community has adopted a range of approaches to improving healthcare service delivery through human resource development: training efforts vary in course content, duration, target recipients, and educational methodology. However, little has been done to evaluate the effectiveness of these approaches. Unless action is taken, training programs may continue without the prerequisite understanding of which training approaches yield the best and most lasting results. Major funders, organizations implementing training programs, and African governments urgently need to know what type of training program to implement with their resources.

IDCAP will identify an effective and cost-efficient approach to training mid-level healthcare workers in Africa on infectious disease prevention, care, and treatment. In fall 2009, IDCAP will begin implementing a new infectious disease training package in Uganda and evaluate that package’s impact on clinical skills and patient health. The evaluation could have a major impact on the way doctors, nurses and other healthcare workers are trained.

The training package integrates training for HIV/AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis, and other infectious diseases into three classroom courses (one core course and two “booster” courses), and on-site training at 36 health facilities throughout Uganda. The classroom training targets nurses and clinical officers, while the on-site training will build the capacity of multi-disciplinary teams composed of a range of health professionals, such as medical officers and laboratory specialists. The on-site support also includes continuous quality improvement activities.

Accordia leads the IDCAP team in strong partnership with the Ugandan Ministry of Health, the Infectious Diseases Institute of Makerere University (IDI), University Research Corporation’s Center for Human Services (URC-CHS), and University of Washington’s International Training and Education Center on HIV (I-TECH).

More detailed information about IDCAP is available in the IDCAP Executive Summary.

If you would like to receive additional information about IDCAP and other Accordia programs, please contact [email protected].