Combating Viral Respiratory Diseases in Illinois Long Term Care Facilities

Hello, and welcome, to the UIC-IDPH Viral Respiratory Disease Outbreak Project Website!

This project is a partnership between the Illinois Department of Public Health and the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) School of Public Health (SPH) with the goal of enhancing the capacity of Illinois long-term care facilities (LTCFs) and local health departments (LHDs) to prevent, investigate, and control infectious outbreaks of viral respiratory diseases (VRDs).

Registration for this program provides access to two online training programs and consultative services for facilities that need timely assistance with an active or recent VRD outbreak in their facility. Training materials (e.g., videos and quizzes) and the consultative service can be accessed within this website.

A brief description of our training programs can be found below. Full details are outlined in each training program’s syllabus.

1. Outbreak Prevention and Control Training
   1. This training provides an introduction to the basic principles and steps involved in investigating and controlling infectious disease outbreaks in general, with special attention to LTCFs and respiratory outbreaks. Trainees will develop an understanding of many diseases (respiratory and non-respiratory) and methods of control and prevention. The course will increase trainees’ familiarity with real outbreak investigations, the role that health department personnel play, the application of infection control practices to hasten the end of an outbreak, and emphasize the importance of motivating optimal prevention and control behavior.
2. Viral Respiratory Disease Bootcamp
   1. This training has been designed to increase familiarity, knowledge, and understanding of current policies, guidelines and resources for the prevention, mitigation, and control of viral respiratory pathogens in Illinois LTCFs. Special emphasis is provided for SARS-CoV-2, influenza, and respiratory syncytial (RSV) viruses given their prevalence and importance to long-term care populations. Participants will also have access to an accompanying toolkit which outlines state and federal guidelines and resources for preventing and responding to outbreaks of SARS-CoV-2, influenza, and RSV.

Please note, a monetary incentive will be provided to participants who complete a minimum of 15 Outbreak Prevention and Control Training modules and 6 Bootcamp modules, equivalent to approximately 75% of the offerings in each training program, and complete a brief survey about their experience with the trainings.* Qualifying participants will receive a communication with instructions on how to obtain their honorarium. Please note, participants will be required to provide their SSN to UIC using a secure data transfer to receive payment.

For questions about this project or the training programs, please contact vrd_questions@uic.edu

Thank you for registering and we hope you enjoy our trainings!

    -    The UIC Team

*Disclaimer: Failure to adhere to the requirements for module completion as described above may result in the participant’s disqualification from receipt of the honorarium and/or invalidation of a previously issued certificate of completion.