Short Courses

HEALTH DISASTER RECOVERY PLANNING AND NEEDS ASSESSMENT (HDRNA)

ONLINE SHORT COURSE

Fourth Quarter Training: October - December 2024

WHAT IS THIS SHORT COURSE ABOUT?

Welcome to the Health Disaster Recovery Needs Assessment (HDRNA) and Recovery Planning short course, developed jointly by Stellenbosch University, PERIPERI U and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to provide an introduction to systematic needs assessment approaches in health disasters.

This short, fully online, self-paced course aims to familiarise participants with the approach to conducting systematic post-disaster needs assessments, and recovery planning, and their application to health risk-related disasters such as the 2019 coronavirus pandemic (Covid-19), for which the COVID-19 Recovery Needs Assessment (CRNA) guidelines have been prepared. The course is based on the methodologies and tools of the Post Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA) and the Post Disaster Recovery Framework (CRC).

Although the training may focus on Covid-19 problem solving, the general principles, theories, tools and assessment methods taught throughout this course should be applicable to similar health risks and emergencies (such as an Ebola outbreak, a Cholera epidemic or potentially even mass contamination such as radiation or chemical spills) so that those attending and completing this course can apply these same lessons to other situations.

The design, content development and operation of this course have been funded by the European Union through the "Capacity Building for Post Disaster Needs Assessment and Recovery Planning - PDNA Roll Out III Project", and the Government of Sweden through the UNDP "Sahel Resilience Project".

WHAT IS THE COURSE STRUCTURE AND FORMAT?

The course is designed to be a self-paced, fully online short course in which no face-to-face or virtual engagement with facilitators or other participants will take place. It is estimated that the course will take approximately eight to ten hours of study time. Please Note, participants will have between 1 October - 16 December 2024 to complete this training course. Anyone that does not complete the training, can attempt the training again when it re-opens again in February 2025.

The course will consist of ten core lessons, which will provide participants with access to all training materials, readings, recordings and other learning materials. The self-paced online course will be hosted on Stellenbosch University's short course teaching and learning platform, SUNOnline. On this platform, participants will have access to all learning materials and tools required to complete the course via this platform. Participants with limited internet access can download texts and other learning materials to study offline at their own pace.

LESSONS AND THEMES

Lesson 1:	Introduction to the course, objectives and programme
Lesson 2:	Overview of disaster assessment methodologies and tools
Lesson 3:	Data collection - pre-disaster baseline, impact data and trends
Lesson 4:	Estimating the economic value of health disaster impacts (losses and additional costs)
Lesson 5:	Estimating the human and economic impact of a health disaster
Lesson 6:	Estimating Health Disaster Recovery Needs
Lesson 7:	Developing a Strategy for the Disaster Recovery Process and Planning
Lesson 8:	Implementing a health disaster recovery strategy - Part 1: Institutional framework, policy and stakeholders
Lesson 9:	Implementing a health disaster recovery strategy - Part 2: Financing mechanisms
Lesson 10:	Implementing a post-disaster recovery strategy - Part 3: Implementation modalities.

WILL THERE BE ASSESSMENTS?

Each lesson will include a short assessment or 'quiz' on SUNOnline to test participants' knowledge of the content and topics covered in each lesson. Participants will need to complete and pass each quiz in order to complete the course and receive a certificate from Stellenbosch University. Participants will have unlimited opportunities to retake the quizzes.

WHO CAN PARTICIPATE?

This short course is open to practitioners, students, technical experts and government officials from all over the world. Anyone who wants to learn more about the basics of conducting an assessment to determine the impact and recovery needs of a community, region or country that has experienced a major health disaster, or who simply wants a better understanding of how to conduct such an assessment, is entitled to take part in this course.

So, don't forget to share your experiences with your colleagues and anyone else who you think would be interested in the themes and topics covered in this course and who is looking to learn how to conduct needs assessments and recovery planning in the event of a health disaster.

WHAT ARE THE EXPECTED OUTCOMES OF THE TRAINING?

At the end of this training, participants should be able to:

I. UNDERSTAND the roles and responsibilities of governments and other stakeholders and partners in:

a. Carrying out an assessment of the impact of a health disaster;

b. defining recovery needs; and

c. preparing a recovery strategy and recovery framework.

II. FOLLOW the steps of identifying the pre-disaster health context and baseline, the effects of a disaster on the health sector and the socio-economic impact of a health disaster, defining recovery needs and developing a CRC to guide resilient post-disaster recovery, using Covid-19 as an example.

III. TEST KNOWLEDGE by completing a series of short questionnaires to determine participants' knowledge acquisition and retention.

WILL I RECEIVE A CERTIFICATE AFTER COMPLETING THE COURSE?

Upon successful completion of the course lessons and all quizzes, participants are entitled to receive an official digital certificate from Stellenbosch University. Participants should note that certificates may take several weeks to be officially processed and sent to them. A provisional certificate will be sent to confirm completion if requested.

FUTURE LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES

Stellenbosch University and UNDP will continue to work together to develop new training opportunities on these and related topics. A blended learning workshop version of this training, designed to provide more advanced and in-depth lessons, in which participants can interact directly with the facilitators and each other, is expected to be launched in the not too distant future.

So keep an eye out for new training courses and online short courses on Stellenbosch University's short course portal: www.shortcourses.sun.ac.za/.

HOW TO REGISTER AND START THE COURSE

Registrations to take part in the fourth semester 2024 version of the course are now open. The training will take place between 1 October - 16 December 2024. Anyone that does not complete the training, can attempt the training when it opens again in February 2025.

Please note that by registering for the short course via this PERIPERI U webpage, you are entitled to take part in the course free of charge ! Use this link here to begin the registration process:

Please note that some parts of the registration process is entirely in English, registration instructions will be provided to help you understand all the instructions you need to follow to successfully register for the course.

Please also note that this registration process is not automatic and that it may take a few days before you are officially registered and can officially start the course. Thank you in advance for your patience.

Start the registration process for the HDRNA course by clicking here!