The COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated the importance of online distance education as a necessary platform for teaching learners at all levels both in the United States and throughout the world. The integration of social emotional learning and cultural education into online distance learning platforms has never been more critical to the success of future learners in society than during this time. This article addresses the current barriers to successful online learning including: 1) lack of secure broadband access in rural and underserved regions, 2) the importance of social emotional learning in online distance education, and 3) the critical need for cultural education within the online curricula of distance platforms.
Project ECHO (Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes) at the University of New Mexico is a telementoring program that uses videoconferencing technology to connect health care providers in underserved communities with subject matter experts. In March 2020, Project ECHO created 10 coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) telementoring programs to meet the public health needs of clinicians and teachers living in underserved rural and urban regions of New Mexico. The newly created COVID-19 programs include 7 weekly sessions (Community Health Worker [in English and Spanish], Critical Care, Education, First-Responder Resiliency, Infectious Disease Office Hours, and Multi-specialty) and 3 one-day special sessions. We calculated the total number of attendees, along with the range and standard deviation, per session by program. Certain programs (Critical Care, Infectious Disease Office Hours, Multi-specialty) recorded the profession of attendees when available. The Project ECHO research team collected COVID-19 infection data by county from March 11 through May 31, 2020. During that same period, 9765 health care and general education professionals participated in the COVID-19 programs, and participants from 31 of 35 (89%) counties in New Mexico attended the sessions. Our initial evaluation of these programs demonstrates that an interprofessional clinician group and teachers used the Project ECHO network to build a community of practice and social network while meeting their educational and professional needs. Because of Project ECHO’s large reach, the results of the New Mexico COVID-19 response suggest that the rapid use of ECHO telementoring could be used for other urgent national public health problems.
First Responders across the globe suffer from increased rates of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, and compassion fatigue. Because their work environment places them on the front lines of crisis situations nearly every day, first responders experience a significant amount of trauma, which can lead to PTSD and other psychological symptoms. Project ECHO, a successful telementoring program, whose mission is to educate clinicians and other health care providers in rural and underserved communities, will be piloting a First Responder ECHO beginning September 2019. The primary goal of the First Responder ECHO is to improve the confidence and knowledge of First Responders in New Mexico. This First Responder ECHO will include an evaluation component. If the program is successful, the goal will be to expand to other regions of the United States.
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