Progress 09/01/18 to 08/31/20
Outputs
Target Audience:The principal target audience for this project is rural veterinarians in the United States. A secondary audience is individuals living in rural communities - more specifically, veterinary clientele (both current and prospective) that have interactions with rural veterinarians. This includes producers, farm employees as well as rural community groups, such as livestock or poultry associations, or youth agriculture programs (e.g., FFA, 4-H). Targeting these audiences is important, as they are the most at-risk for exposure to zoonotic diseases of livestock and poultry species due to their frequent contact with livestock and poultry and the unique human-animal-environmental interface found in rural community settings. Zoonotic diseases are an under-recognized but important health risk for animals and humans in rural communities. Rural veterinarians play an essential public health role in their communities. They are knowledgeable about zoonotic disease risks and the preventive measures needed to protect animal health and human health. The topic of zoonotic diseases provides an avenue to encourage prevention measures to protect animal and human health, but it can also strengthen client relationships, increase veterinary involvement and integration with the community, recruit new clientele, and promote the veterinary profession to future generations. Many busy practitioners lack the resources or time to develop engaging and effective educational materials or presentations. Having readily available educational resources such as handouts, clinic posters, quick reference tables or prepared presentations can help to increase communication about the risks of zoonotic diseases on the health of animals and people. Changes/Problems:Disseminaion of the educational materials was anticipated for the last half of the project year; however, given the personal and economic impacts the COVID pandemic had on veterinarians and veterinary clinics, it was decided to temporarily postpone distribution and advertisement of the materials. With practice closures, restricted interactions of veterinary personnel with clients, and limitations on group gatherings due to the pandemic in early 2020, the use of the materials by veterinarians would have been impossible or limited during this time. A no-cost extension was approved and received in August 2020. Re-openings did not begin until April of 2021 and were not consistent across states. In addition, the animal production crises resulting from the pandemic throughout 2020 and 2021 posed priority issues affecting animal health and welfare, and were of utmost importance to practitioners, leaving little time or interest in an educational campaign. These unprecedented factors greatly prohibited the delivery and evaluation of the client-focused materials during this project timeframe. These events contributed to the decision to offer the continuing education course multiple times to provide information not only about zoonotic disease prevention but the educational resources available. The CFSPH will continue to promote the materials available as more opportunities become available. As an example, the resources developed for this project were presented to participants (i.e., extension veterinarians) at the 2021 Applied Animal and Public Health Research and Extension Symposium on October 24, 2021. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Continuing Education Course for Veterinary Personnel on Zoonotic Disease Prevention in Rural Communities: To assure that rural veterinarians and their staff feel confident in conveying specific preventive measures for important zoonotic diseases, a web-based continuing education course focusing on the communication of risk and prevention was developed, reviewed, and approved by the American Association of Veterinary State Boards (AAVSB) Registry of Approved Continuing Education (RACE®) for continuing education credit approval. The Zoonoses: Protecting Animal and Human Health in Rural Communities continuing education course was offered for free on three occasions - May, June, and July of 2021. Total course registration was 2,540 participants, with 1,109 (44%) completing the course. In all, 5,545 continuing education credits were provided through this course. The use of a web-based learning platform allows for easy access, around the clock availability, as well as mobile friendly (e.g., smartphone access) functionality. This course fills a need for easily accessible professional education. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?A flyer promoting the continuing education course was disseminated to more than 250 veterinary professional associations and organizations on 3 separate occasions (for each course offering in May, June, and July). Outreach that encouraged distribution of the course offerings included State Animal Health Officials, State Public Health Veterinarians, veterinary medical associations and organizations, including the American Association of Swine Veterinarians, the American Association of Beef Practitioners, the American Association of Poultry Veterinarians, the American Association of Extension Veterinarians, the U.S. Animal Health Association and commodity group list serves. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
During the project period, the recruitment and engagement of a rural veterinarian Focus Group was used to obtain input on zoonotic education resource needs, which guided the creation of materials. Members provided insightful and valuable feedback during the educational resource development to ensure we created materials useful for the target audience. Another goal of the project was to provide veterinarians with continuing education on the impacts and prevention of zoonotic diseases in rural communities. Time and financial constraints often make obtaining continuing education difficult for rural practitioners. The Zoonoses: Protecting Animal and Human Health in Rural Communities continuing education course was developed using a web-based learning platform for delivery to ensure easy access and around the clock availability for practitioners' busy schedules. The course content was available in multiple formats (i.e., podcast, audio, PDF) to accommodate various learning styles. The course was approved for five (5) continuing education credits for veterinarians and veterinary technicians by the American Association of Veterinary State Boards (AAVSB) Registry of Approved Continuing Education (RACE) program. The course allowed practitioners to review and refresh their knowledge of zoonotic diseases, learn effective ways to communicate disease prevention with clients, and filled a need for easily accessible professional education. The course was advertised to more than 250 veterinary professional associations and organizations, including State Animal Health Officials, State Public Health Veterinarians, and veterinary medical associations and organizations for distribution. The course was offered for free in May, June, and July of 2021, and resulted in 2,540 registrants. The May registration filled to capacity in 48 hours of release of the course advertisement. The course had a successful 44% completion rate (1,190 participants). In all, 5,545 continuing education credits were provided. Registrants included veterinarians, veterinary technicians, veterinary, undergraduate and graduate students, federal and state governmental officials, and various animal health, public health and human healthcare professionals from all 50 U.S. states, and outside the United States (15%). Lecture podcasts were provided for free access through web-based outlets including Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Chrome, Audible, and others. Over 70 podcast episodes were downloaded during the May-August course offering period. The course included both an evaluation and assessment (pre- and post-survey) component. The course was well received. Course evaluation data indicated an overall course rating of 8.9 out of 10 (10=excellent). Over all three offerings of the course, it received a 5.3 out of 6 (6=exceptional) for providing information on zoonotic diseases of agricultural animals, and 85% of those completing the course indicated they would be highly likely or likely to refer the course to a colleague. Feedback on what was liked best about the course included the review of diseases, the approach to discussing prevention, and the organization of the material. Pre- and post-survey results indicated some knowledge of zoonotic diseases prior to taking the course. This was expected given the targeted audience; however, the assessments related to delivery and communication of the topic, suggested increased confidence in communicating with clients about zoonotic diseases after course completion, and increased likelihood of displaying zoonotic disease awareness and prevention materials, providing resources to clients, participating in community outreach, and using tools for social media. This information is primarily qualitative, but does suggest potential for dissemination of materials and information to clients and the community. A third goal of the project was to develop educational resources for rural veterinarians to use with clients and in their community to raise awareness and promote prevention on the risks and prevention of zoonotic diseases of livestock and poultry. Focus Group feedback indicated many did not have readily-available, client-based materials available on zoonotic disease risks and prevention, and having graphically engaging tools focused on prevention and specific species would be useful. More than 55 new resources on zoonotic disease awareness and prevention were developed for this project. Materials included informational handouts, infographic posters, and promotional messaging for clinic websites and social media outreach. This large library of resources provides diversity in formats to allow for integration in a wide range of practice settings and approaches for communicating with clients. Additionally, five community presentation slide decks were developed to help veterinarians effectively communicate zoonotic disease risks and prevention in their community. This outreach opportunity not only helps veterinarians increase community involvement and integration, but helps promote the veterinary profession to future generations, and provides an avenue to encourage animal health prevention programs and recruit new clientele, thereby building their veterinary practices in rural communities. All materials developed for this project are available for free access on a dedicated web page on the Center for Food Security and Public Health website at https://www.cfsph.iastate.edu/zoonoses/. Access data collected for the resources from the dedicated website was gathered using Google analytic data. In 2021, the cattle zoonotic disease table and cattle disease summary chart was downloaded 641 and 406 times, respectively. From April through August, 777 Stay Safe posters, and 587 of the prepared community PowerPoint slide decks were downloaded. The species disease and prevention tables and disease summary charts were downloaded 1050 and 923 times, respectively, during the same period. Overall, the response to the availability of the free continuing education course indicated this is an important topic of interest to veterinary personnel. Additionally, an increase in resource downloads following course offerings suggests this may be one useful way to disseminate information about the available resources to the targeted audience. One of the hopes for the project was to have the rural veterinarian Focus Group "use" materials in their community and provide feedback on the success or challenges that resulted. However, the occurrence of COVID-19 in early 2020, its resulting business shut downs (including veterinary clinics), and limitation of in-person interactions or gatherings (e.g., community presentations), followed by the strain of production crises in early 2021, resulted in limited availability and opportunities for practitioners to implement the materials. For this reason, the continuing education course was offered on multiple occasions to expand outreach during this unprecedented time. Therefore, dissemination and data collection was greatly impacted for this project.
Publications
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Progress 09/01/19 to 08/31/20
Outputs
Target Audience:The principal target audience for this reporting period was rural veterinarians in the United States. Additionally, a secondary audience are individuals living in rural communities. More specifically, veterinary clientele (both current and prospective) that would have interactions with rural veterinarians. This also include rural livestock and poultry community groups, such as livestock associations, youth ag programs (e.g., FFA, 4-H). The selection of these audiences is important as they are the most at-risk for exposure to zoonotic diseases of livestock and poultry species due to the unique human-animal-environmental interface found in rural community settings. Changes/Problems:Efforts to disseminate the educational materials was anticipated for this last half of the project year; however, given the personal and economic impacts the COVID pandemic has had on veterinarians and veterinary clinics, it was decided to temporarily postpone distribution and advertisement of the materials. With practice closures, restricted interactions of veterinary personnel with clients, and limitations on group gatherings due to the pandemic, the use of the materials by veterinarians would have been impossible or limited during this time. These factors would have greatly impacted any evaluation of the materials. As a result, a no-cost extension was requested and received for this project. Efforts to disseminate and evaluate the materials will occur in this extended year of the project. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Continuing education course for veterinary personnel on zoonotic disease prevention in rural communities: To assure that rural veterinarians and their staff feel confident in conveying specific preventive measures for important zoonotic diseases, content for a web-based continuing education course focusing on the communication of risk and prevention was drafted in Year 1. During this project period, materials were internally reviewed by CFSPH veterinarians. Refinement and graphic development are underway. The course will be subsequently shared with the Focus Group for comment. After review, the materials will be revised and refined and the course will be submitted for RACE approval, and made available on the resource website. The use of a web-based learning platform allows for easy access, around the clock availability, as well as mobile friendly (e.g., smartphone access) functionality. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Dissemination of materials and evaluation will occur in the next reporting period of this project What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?- Continued consultation and engagement with the recruited rural veterinarian Focus Group - Populate and promote dedicated webpage to house and provide free-access to all materials for download - Promote the availability of materials via various veterinary medical association, organizations and list servs - Evaluate access and use of materials housed on webpage - Complete web programming in the learning management system (i.e., Moodle) to provide delivery and tracking of course completion and issuing continuing education credit earned. - Obtain RACE approval for the continuing education course - Advertise the continuing education course to rural veterinarians and veterinary technicians - Evaluate and assess the enrollment and effectiveness of the course
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Work during this reporting period primarily involved the refinement and graphic development of the project material drafts from Year 1. Planning and web programming for the continuing education course and educational resource web page were initiated. - Client-focused educational resources on zoonotic disease risks and prevention: Resources include educational handouts on zoonotic disease transmission, exposure risk areas, and prevention, as well as disease specific handouts were revised, and refined, and graphically developed in an engaging style and format. - Community-focused educational materials: Five species specific zoonoses awareness presentations (PowerPoints) for use by rural veterinarians in their community and two zoonotic disease intervention and prevention posters have been drafted, and developed into a graphically engaging style and format and are under internal review. - Veterinary practice promotional messaging: A series of short practice promoting message segments have been drafted as social media widgets, advertisement graphics, and practice website images. - Rural veterinarian-focused educational resources: Several species specific disease reference charts and tables have developed and graphically formatted in a useful style for quick reference. A training guide for rural veterinarians on ways to use the educational resources has been drafted and is under internal review. Continuing education course for veterinarians: See "opportunities for training and professional development" for additional information
Publications
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