title: Community health worker training for infant hearing health: effectiveness of distance learning.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a distance training program in infant hearing health to community health workers (CHWs).
  
  
  METHODS
  Pre- and post- tests were administered to two groups of subjects following the use of an interactive CD-ROM for tele-educational training.
  
  
  METHODS
  Two groups of subjects were used: Group I (GI) consisted of 43 CHWs who had previously participated in at least one training activity involving hearing health, and Group II (GII) were 47 CHWs who had received no prior training in hearing health.
  
  
  RESULTS
  CHWs retained a significant amount of training content. There was not significant correlation between the global post-training questionnaire score and performance on the simulation activity (GI: r = 0.11, p = 0.698 and GII: r = 0.29, p = 0.074), and the simulation activity performance was significantly better among GI CHWs (p = 0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The CHWs' training in infant hearing health using an interactive tele-educational tool was effective, as the CHW demonstrated significant short-term information retention and applied such data in hypothetical situations representative of their daily activities.
authors.affiliation: Department of Audiology and Speech Pathology, University of São Paulo, Bauru Campus, Brazil.
authors.forename: Eliene Silva
authors.initials: ES
authors.lastname: Araújo
authors.forename: Kátia
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: de Freitas Alvarenga
authors.forename: Daniele
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Urnau
authors.forename: Débora Frizzo
authors.initials: DF
authors.lastname: Pagnossin
authors.forename: Chao Lung
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Wen
mesh_terms: D016251:CD-ROM; D002662:Child Health Services; D002983:Clinical Competence; D003150:Community Health Workers / Q000193:education*; D003194:Computer-Assisted Instruction / Q000295:instrumentation; D003479:Curriculum; D020375:Education, Distance; D040381:Education, Public Health Professional / Q000379:methods*; D004521:Educational Measurement; D006309:Hearing; D006311:Hearing Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D015397:Program Evaluation; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires