A planning team that included staff from ISDS, ASTHO, and Charlie Ishikawa of Ishikawa Associates, LLC created and implemented the HHS Region 2+ workshop. Charlie led the workshop facilitation and design of workshop artifacts. The workshop was based on a model that utilizes a non-formal education (NFE) approach2, which features self-directed learning and peer-to-peer problem solving, and actively engages participants in identifying their learning needs and methods with guidance by a facilitator. Using a limited emergency department (ED) dataset for data sharing during the workshop, the training begins with a collaborative assessment and comparison of syndromic surveillance practices for a health condition of interest. Participants then identify and document their perceived benefits and barriers to SyS data sharing for that purpose. At the end of the workshop, participants brainstorm solutions for high priority barriers and commit to short-term actions or next steps.
Region 2+ participants selected syndromic surveillance of emergency department visits for carbon monoxide poisoning (CO) during Super Storm, or Hurricane Sandy, for the workshop. It was selected because CO SyS is a shared practice across jurisdictions, all participants believed that their practices could be improved, and the event was an example of a situation in which SyS data sharing would be beneficial. In preparation for the workshop, participants developed and shared analyses of CO ED visit trends during 10/29/2012 thru 11/26/2012 according to instructions provided (Appendix B). Participants also provided information about their jurisdiction’s syndromic surveillance system (i.e., metadata), and shared tabulated, aggregate data when possible. The final workshop agenda was shaped to achieve these objectives upon a collaborative assessment of CO SyS findings and practices during Superstorm or Hurricane Sandy (Appendix C).
Region 2+ is a name participants and staff used to reference the workshop group. HHS Region 2 consists of New York, New Jersey, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. For the purposes of this workshop, however, states that share a geographic boundary with New York City (i.e., Pennsylvania and Connecticut) were invited to participate because a pre-existing regional surveillance group could provide an effective support for post-workshop actions. Public health officials invited from Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands were unable to attend.