Project Firstline: Expanding Reach and Addressing Health Equity
December 1, 2023
Posted In: Optimize interventions
Purpose
To address long-standing gaps in infection control knowledge and practice in diverse healthcare settings nationwide.
Description
CDC’s Project Firstline is a collaborative of more than 80 diverse healthcare, academic, and public health partners. Project Firstline provides frontline healthcare workers with the infection control knowledge, tools, and resources they need to be prepared to respond to ongoing and emerging infectious disease threats in health care. Following an audience-based approach, Project Firstline works to effectively translate CDC infection control recommendations, guidance, and policy into actionable content that explains the rationale behind the science, focusing on teaching the “why” behind infection control as much as the “what” and the “how.” The project also strives to ensure infection control training and resources are readily available to healthcare workers often overlooked (nurses, allied health professionals, environmental service workers, and emergency medical technicians).
Healthcare equity is core to Project Firstline’s mission. Healthcare equity ensures that everyone has equitable access to health care and has equitable experiences within the health care system. All partners are encouraged and supported to consider and integrate healthcare equity into their programming and to deliver culturally appropriate and linguistically accessible infection control training and education to all U.S. frontline healthcare workers. Since its launch in 2020, Project Firstline and its partners have made significant advances to translate resources and materials in Spanish and other languages. These infection control and patient safety educational materials are tailored to meet the needs and realities of the diverse current and future frontline healthcare workforce.
Early Impact
In early 2023, Project Firstline, collaborating with RTI International and in partnership with the Hispanic Communications Network, launched a dedicated Spanish website with over 72 translated infection control resources. In just over eight months, the website has received more than 11,000 views and 4,000 link clicks and was highlighted in major Spanish news syndications, including the LA Times. Since Project Firstline’s launch, 23% of all trainings by its public health partners have occurred in Spanish, and 58% of Project Firstline funded trainings occurring through health departments occurred in a language other than English. Project Firstline also collaborates with the National Hispanic Medical Association (NHMA) to provide resources and educational opportunities for Hispanic physicians. Additionally, NHMA works with Salud! America to highlight the stories of frontline healthcare workers and their commitment to infection control and protecting the health of their Latino communities.
As of May 2023, Project Firstline and its partners have:
- Developed 900+ educational products and training materials on healthcare infection control
- Hosted 2,300+ educational events, reaching approximately 153,000+ healthcare workers
- Received more than 1 million website views
- Received more than 113 million media impressions through both paid and organic social media
- Received more than 3 million impressions through paid search ads and YouTube videos