Health workers need to be able to access health information and resources to update and apply their knowledge and skills and continue their professional development.Learning online. AFRICAMaking health information available and usable to all is a complex process not yet adequately addressed (see Figure 1). It has to be appropriate, high quality, timely, easy to understand, relevant for the location it will be used in, and provided in an appropriate format. For example, you cannot learn a new surgical skill by reading about it, a much better method is to take a course or watch a video, preferably one suited for the local need.
Figure 1
Which health information challenges do you face? How do you overcome them?
Where do you find these resources and opportunities? Information, communications technologies (ICTs) such as the internet are a promising mechanism to help address the health workforce information needs. Health workers need access to ICTs but they also need strong information and computer skills to search, select and make use of the available information and resources.Availability of high-quality, up-to-date and locally relevant materials is limited in many settings and there is a lack of investment and organisational support for developing information and computer skills and the infrastructure needed to access printed and digital information.In every setting, major health stakeholders need to continue to develop and implement knowledge management strategies to enable health workers to use the evidence-based information and knowledge available to them.,The following infographic aims to guide eye health clinicians, educators, managers and leaders on:Identifying the information needDeveloping a search strategyCarrying out an effective online searchFinding sources of good eye health information and resources on the internetWhich health information challenges do you face? How do you overcome them?Extract the keywords and phrases from your identified information need (see section A).Identify which search engine to use. Internet search engines (such as Google) will return wide results but with variable quality.Enter your keywords and phrases into the engine.Select and evaluate results which seem relevant. Review the summary or abstract and exclude irrelevant or low quality resources. Ask yourself:Who published this resource? Does the publisher have a good reputation? Has it been peer-reviewed for quality?When was it published? Is it up to date?Is the information suitable for use in your setting?Is the resource ‘Open’? Can it be downloaded and shared for free? Or do you need to pay?Is the technical production good? Can you, or anybody, access and use it easily?Review the relevant resources in detail. E.g. read the whole article. If necessary, make notes of the most relevant information from each source. For complex information needs, integrate your notes into a matrix to help you track your ideas and relate back to your topic.Manage your notes and information you have found (see section B).
D Good sources of free and low cost eye care information and resources on the internet
What have we missed out? Send suggestions to .Eye care bodies in your country may provide useful health information and CPD opportunities. For example:Bhutan Medical and Health CouncilOphthalmological Society of NigeriaIndia national programme for control of blindnessThere may be professional interest groups you can join – face-to-face or by email or social media e.g. Facebook or WhatsAppWorld Health Organization Prevention of blindnessKey international policies, data and guidelinesIAPB Vision AtlasCountry level maps and data on avoidable blindness and sight loss.From the International Agency for the Prevention of BlindnessTrachoma AtlasOnline global atlas of the distribution and prevalence of trachoma.International Centre for Eye Health coursesPublic health courses on Global Blindness: Planning and Managing Eye Care Services, Ophthalmic Epidemiology, Eliminating Trachoma and Diabetic Retinopathy (coming soon)Cybersight coursesA number of introductory clinical courses. Provided by ORBISAurosikshaShort courses on eye care management from Aravind Eye Care SystemMedline/PubMedPubMedCentralAn index of the world's biomedical literature from the National Library of Medicine, USA. PubMedCentral indexes Open Access literatureCochrane Eyes and Vision Reviews – systematic reviews of the current scientific evidence on interventions to treat or prevent eye diseases or visual impairment.Indian Journal of OphthalmologyJournal of Ophthalmology of Eastern, Central and Southern AfricaMiddle East African Journal of OphthalmologyAravind Eye Care System Education and Training Clinical and non-clinical training for all levelsCollege of Ophthalmology of Eastern Central and Southern AfricaInternational Council of Ophthalmology (ICO) Foundation, standard and advanced level examsJoint Commission on Allied Health Personnel in Ophthalmology: Global Center for Online Ophthalmic Continuing EducationTraining institutions for eye health professionals in Africa. The IAPB Africa database.Cybersight LibraryClinical quizzes, video lectures and textbooksEye RoundsCase reports, photographs, tutorials. From the University of Iowa.IAPB Africa ResourcesICO resourcesICO resources for educatorsHundreds of useful links for ophthalmologists and educatorsVISION2020 e-resourceResources on eye care management. From Aravind Eye Care System.
Image and video repositories
Eyerounds AtlasCommunity Eye Health Flickr Photostream
Eye care apps
There are a number of free and low cost apps in ophthalmic education. Search for them on your app store. (See 2015 article from the AAO for ideas: “Top Ophthalmology Resident Apps” )The HINARI – Access to Research Initiative provides not-for-profit institutions in low- and middle-income countries with free or very low cost access to biomedical and social science journals.Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are free to take with some optional fees e.g. for accreditation. MOOCs bring hundreds or even thousands of people together to learn about a subject. 6850 MOOCs were available by the end of 2016 from providers such as Coursera and EdX (USA), FutureLearn (UK), XuetangX (China), Miríada X (Ibero-Americas), Edraak (Arabic) and Swayam (India). The Global Blindness course (see page 10) is run as a FutureLearn MOOC once or twice a year. Register your interest atClass Central currently maintains one of the most up-to-date lists of MOOCs.Open Educational Resources (OERs) are learning materials free to anyone to access, reuse, adapt and share with others without having to seek permission from the original publisher. OERs are also called OpenCourseWare. A number of regional and health related OER repositories have been published: For example: OER Africa or MIT and John Hopkins Public Health OpenCourseWare sites – and
Figure 1