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There were 12 participants and the response rate to the questionnaire was 100%. After the training session, 83% of participants felt able to apply Epi Info to a foodborne disease outbreak investigation. The participants reported an increase in their confidence in developing a questionnaire using Epi Info, entering

The harm caused by smoking Tobacco smoking is recognised as one of the leading preventable causes of illness and premature death in Australia, particularly from cancer, cardiovascular disease and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. In 2004, there were 6507 tobacco-related deaths and 55 591 tobaccorelated hospitalisations reported in NSW. 1 Tobacco also causes harm to non-smokers through their exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (passive smoking).

Three population health projects in falls prevention, smoking cessation and refugee health secured funding through the NSW Telehealth Initiative. All were capacity building projects delivered through live videoconferencing sessions between April and August 2007. Videoconferencing as a mode of delivery was evaluated from the perspective of those who delivered the projects. Method: Qualitative semi-structured interviews with 12 key informants explored for each project: the organisation and delivery of the education sessions; the utility of videoconferencing for delivering training programs; and the perceived potential to apply videoconferencing to other functions. Results: The projects were all delivered successfully through live videoconferencing. The main benefits observed were: the ability to deliver training to large numbers of people across multiple locations within a relatively short time and for reasonable costs; and the ability to improve access to high quality professional development for rural and remote workers. Technical difficulties were minor. The support required for these kinds of e-learning projects to succeed were identified. Conclusion: The evaluation confirmed the value of videoconferencing as a vehicle through which equity of access to learning opportunities for population health workers across NSW can be achieved. In 2005, the NSW Telehealth Initiative called for submissions for innovation projects through the Telehealth Innovation Fund, and for the first time sought applications for population health interventions. Three population health projects were subsequently successful in securing funding. These projects sought to build the capacity of the health workforce to provide population health interventions and were delivered through live videoconferencing sessions between April and August 2007. Videoconferencing is a technology that involves the transmission of images, voice and data between two or more sites using telecommunication channels; through the extensive Telehealth network hundreds of videoconference sites have been established across the eight area health services (AHSs) in New South Wales (NSW) for the delivery of clinical services and administrative and professional development activities. 1,2 A condition of funding was that videoconferencing as a mode of delivery was evaluated from the perspective of those who delivered the projects. This article describes the findings of the evaluation. Jacq Hackett The three projects Preventing falls and harm from falls in older peopleFall injury is a major cause of preventable injury-related hospitalisation and loss of independence among people aged 65 years and over in NSW. The NSW Clinical Excellence Commission implemented the Falls Prevention Telehealth Project to assist hospitals in rural AHSs to implement the National Guidelines (Preventing falls and harm from falls in older people. Best practice guidelines for Australian hospitals and residential aged care facilities) developed by the Australian Council for Safety and Quality ...

Executive summaryA qualitative survey was carried out with a small sample of senior public health professionals to describe: the types of communication technology that they currently use; the situations in which they apply these at work; and their interest in pursuing these techniques in the future. Six techniques were investigated: teleconferencing, web bulletin boards, web conferencing, videoconferencing, media streaming and satellite television.Thirteen public health professionals were invited to be interviewed and 12 agreed to participate (response rate 92%). Participants were people working in population health structures in the area health services in New South Wales (NSW) and the NSW Department of Health. Participants were interviewed using a structured survey that examined their: roles and responsibilities; experience of using communication technology; and barriers or enablers to their use. In contrast, factors that prevented use were the lack of availability of equipment, the lack of experience and skills in setting up and operating the technology and the perceived associated costs.Many raised cost as an issue, inferring that cheap delivery increased the chance of uptake. However, there is a tradeoff between cost and quality of delivery for many of these techniques. Better quality transmission of videoconferencing is associated with higher bandwidth transmission and higher cost.To integrate the use of communication technology into public health practice, a strategy is required that complements the traditional face-to-face approach. The strategy should increase awareness of the types of techniques available, the benefits they provide and the situations in which they are best applied. The challenge for the public health workforce is to clearly articulate their requirements and to successfully and comprehensively integrate a range of communication techniques into practice.