Guidelines for Training Community Surveillance Coordinators

Prepared by the CHANGE Project in collaboration with CORE non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and the United States (US) Peace Corps, with support from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), these guidelines are part of the CHANGE project's Community Surveillance Kit - meant to be a resource for countries to improve detection, reporting, and follow-up of cases of acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) - an achievement required for countries, regions, and the entire world to be declared polio-free.

The guidelines are based on principles of adult education. The suggested training of Coordinators is divided into 7 session plans, each representing one complex of skills, knowledge, and attitudes. Some of these skills, such as how to organise meetings and how to provide supportive supervision, will be needed at multiple times in different stages of developing and supporting a community surveillance programme. Other skills, such as getting organised, may be needed only once or a few times.

Each of the 7 sessions of these guidelines has the same basic format: session number, title, introductory box (provides the trainer with an overview of the session and is designed to assist the trainer in preparing for the exercises), and training exercises - each of which has been sub-divided into segments, such as Introduction, Reading, Discussion, Small Group Work, etc., and each segment includes a series of numbered steps that the trainer may follow. Suggestions for adapting the training guidelines follow, as do strategies for planning the training of coordinators.

"Remember that although the initial training is crucial to the performance of Community Surveillance Coordinators, what happens after training is at least as important. Since Coordinator trainees will have their Handbook and other tools with them after training, they do not have to learn everything in them during a short training...

In the normal course of supervision visits, Coordinators should have opportunities to discuss and receive feedback and assistance in their work with community surveillance and health promotion...

As participating organizations monitor the community surveillance program, they may identify areas of Coordinator performance needing improvement. The National Surveillance Coordination Committee must then decide whether such areas may be improved through supervision and the provision of materials or if in-service training is required..."