COVID-19 Contact Tracing
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COVID-19 Contact Tracing
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What you'll learn
Describe the natural history of SARS-CoV-2 , including the infectious period, the presentation of COVID-19, and evidence for how it is transmitted.
Define an infectious contact and timeline for public health intervention through contact tracing.
Demonstrate the utility of case investigation and contact tracing, identify common barriers, and possible strategies to overcome them.
Present some ethical considerations around contact tracing, isolation and quarantine.
Skills you'll gain
- Community Health
- Interpersonal Communications
- Patient Communication
- Health Technology
- Public Health
- Community Outreach
- Investigation
- Infectious Diseases
- Medical Privacy
- Active Listening
- Microbiology
- Epidemiology
- Healthcare Ethics
- Rapport Building
- Infection Control
- Ethical Standards And Conduct
- Public Health and Disease Prevention
- Interviewing Skills
Details to know
28 assignments
See how employees at top companies are mastering in-demand skills
There are 6 modules in this course
The COVID-19 crisis has created an unprecedented need for contact tracing across the country, requiring thousands of people to learn key skills quickly. The job qualifications for contact tracing positions differ throughout the country and the world, with some new positions open to individuals with a high school diploma or equivalent.
In this introductory course, students will learn about the science of SARS-CoV-2 , including the infectious period, the clinical presentation of COVID-19, and the evidence for how SARS-CoV-2 is transmitted from person-to-person and why contact tracing can be such an effective public health intervention. Students will learn about how contact tracing is done, including how to build rapport with cases, identify their contacts, and support both cases and their contacts to stop transmission in their communities. The course will also cover several important ethical considerations around contact tracing, isolation, and quarantine. Finally, the course will identify some of the most common barriers to contact tracing efforts -- along with strategies to overcome them.
In this first module, we'll dig into the science of COVID-19, including what we know about its origins, clinical signs and symptoms, risk factors, diagnosis, transmission, and infectious period.
What's included
7 videos4 readings7 assignments
7 videosβ’Total 51 minutes
- SARS-CoV-2 Virusβ’4 minutes
- Natural History of SARS-CoV-2ββ’15 minutes
- Risk Factors for Severe Diseaseββ’6 minutes
- Diagnosing COVID-19β’6 minutes
- Transmission of SARS-CoV-2β’9 minutes
- Why Stopping Transmission is So Importantβ’9 minutes
- Summary of COVID-19β’2 minutes
4 readingsβ’Total 3 minutes
- A Note on Updates in this Courseβ’0 minutes
- Course Resources and Technical Supportβ’1 minute
- Glossary of termsβ’1 minute
- Assignmentsβ’1 minute
7 assignmentsβ’Total 8 minutes
- SARS-CoV-2 virus (Unlimited Attempts Permitted)β’1 minute
- Natural history of SARS-CoV-2 (Unlimited Attempts Permitted)β’2 minutes
- Risk factors for severe disease (Unlimited Attempts Permitted)β’1 minute
- Diagnosing COVID-19 (Unlimited Attempts Permitted)β’1 minute
- Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 (Unlimited Attempts Permitted) β’1 minute
- Why Stopping Transmission is So Important (Unlimited Attempts Permitted)β’1 minute
- Provide Your Feedback on this Module (Required)β’1 minute
Now that you've learned about the basics of COVID-19, we'll turn our attention to some of the tools being used to stop the spread: contact tracing, isolation, and quarantine. We'll also show you how what you've already learned about infection and transmission informs the use of these critical public health tools.
What's included
5 videos1 reading5 assignments1 plugin
5 videosβ’Total 35 minutes
- Contact Tracing for COVID-19 Preventionβ’7 minutes
- Defining Case, Contact, Isolation, and Quarantineβ’7 minutes
- Calculating Isolation and Quarantine Durationβ’8 minutes
- Identifying High-Risk Situationsβ’13 minutes
- Summaryβ’1 minute
1 readingβ’Total 2 minutes
- CDC Guidance and the COVID-19 Isolation and Quarantine Calculatorβ’2 minutes
5 assignmentsβ’Total 7 minutes
- Contact Tracing for COVID-19 Prevention (Unlimited Attempts Permitted)β’1 minute
- Defining Case, Contact, Isolation and Quarantine (Unlimited Attempts Permitted)β’1 minute
- Calculating Isolation and Quarantine Duration (Unlimited Attempts Permitted)β’3 minutes
- Identifying High-Risk Situations (Unlimited Attempts Permitted)β’1 minute
- Provide Your Feedback on this Module (Required)β’1 minute
1 pluginβ’Total 15 minutes
- COVID-19 Isolation and Quarantine Calculatorβ’15 minutes
In this module, we'll walk through the steps of the contact tracing process and provide examples. You'll also get to watch demonstrations of basic interactions with a case and and a contact.
What's included
3 videos1 reading2 assignments
3 videosβ’Total 45 minutes
- The Basic Stepsβ’16 minutes
- Observing Basic Case and Contact Callsβ’28 minutes
- Summaryβ’2 minutes
1 readingβ’Total 5 minutes
- Checklists for speaking to cases and contactsβ’5 minutes
2 assignmentsβ’Total 4 minutes
- The Basic Steps (Unlimited Attempts Permitted)β’3 minutes
- Provide Your Feedback on this Module (Required)β’1 minute
In this module, you'll learn about the important ethical dimensions of contract tracing, including how we balance the protection of the public's health with limits on personal privacy and autonomy. We'll walk through some specific examples to prepare you for some of the issues contact tracers encounter during the course of their work.
What's included
6 videos6 assignments
6 videosβ’Total 42 minutes
- Contact Tracing as a Common Public Health Toolβ’3 minutes
- Defining Privacy, Confidentiality, and Other Terms about Ethicsβ’8 minutes
- Balancing Public Good with Privacy, Autonomy, and Confidentialityβ’10 minutes
- Rationale for Using Technology for Contact Tracingβ’2 minutes
- Examples of Technology Used for Each Stepβ’18 minutes
- Summaryβ’1 minute
6 assignmentsβ’Total 6 minutes
- Contact Tracing as a Common Public Health Tool (Unlimited Attempts Permitted)β’1 minute
- Defining Privacy, Confidentiality, and Other Terms about Ethics (Unlimited Attempts Permitted)β’1 minute
- Balancing Public Good with Privacy, Autonomy, and Confidentiality (Unlimited Attempts Permitted)β’1 minute
- Rationale for Using Technology for Contact Tracing (Unlimited Attempts Permitted)β’1 minute
- Examples of Technology Used for Each Step (Unlimited Attempts Permitted)β’1 minute
- Provide Your Feedback on this Module (Required)β’1 minute
Effective communication is the cornerstone of a successful contact tracing interaction. That includes building rapport with cases and contacts, active listening, and asking the right kinds of questions. In this module, you'll watch and read several example interactions that demonstrate both how and how not to conduct yourself as a contact tracer.
What's included
11 videos7 assignments
11 videosβ’Total 78 minutes
- The Importance of Rapportβ’4 minutes
- Tips for Effective Communicationβ’12 minutes
- Question Types and When to Use Themβ’9 minutes
- Active Listening: Helping People Feel Heardβ’8 minutes
- Bringing It All Together into One Communication Frameworkβ’7 minutes
- Common Issues and Tipsβ’5 minutes
- Embracing Complexityβ’3 minutes
- Addressing Process Complexitiesβ’17 minutes
- Addressing People Complexitiesβ’7 minutes
- Addressing Context Complexitiesβ’4 minutes
- Summaryβ’3 minutes
7 assignmentsβ’Total 7 minutes
- The Importance of Rapport (Unlimited Attempts Permitted)β’1 minute
- Tips for Effective Communication (Unlimited Attempts Permitted)β’1 minute
- Question Types and When to Use Them (Unlimited Attempts Permitted)β’1 minute
- Active Listening: Helping People Feel Heard (Unlimited Attempts Permitted)β’1 minute
- Bringing It All Together into One Communication Framework (Unlimited Attempts Permitted)β’1 minute
- Common Issues and Tips (Unlimited Attempts Permitted)β’1 minute
- Provide Your Feedback on this Module (Required)β’1 minute
What's included
2 readings1 assignment
2 readingsβ’Total 2 minutes
- Final Assessment Instructions (Read Carefully BEFORE Final Assessment)β’1 minute
- COVID-19 Daily Roundupβ’1 minute
1 assignmentβ’Total 80 minutes
- Final Assessmentβ’80 minutes
Instructor
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Reviewed on Oct 26, 2020
This was my first course on Coursera offered by JHU. I fount it to be very precise, informative and up to date. I greatly appreciated and enjoyed the balance of visual and verbal learning offerings.
Reviewed on May 3, 2021
This course is truly helpful and timely. It taught me a lot about the whole process and importance of contact tracing, and how this essential tool can help in reducing the cases of COVID-19 worldwide.
Reviewed on Aug 19, 2020
The professor gives a very clear description of the role contract tracers play. In addition, the example videos they provide with the within-lecture questions helped keep me active during the lecture.
Frequently asked questions
This course provides information about the basics of COVID-19 and contact tracing and helps you develop some of the skills and background that you need. The course includes examples of contact tracing calls, as well as information about developing effective interviewing skills.
Visit https://www.coursera.org/promo/covid-19-contact-tracing to enroll in this course for free. The promotional price will be applied to your purchase automatically.
You will need to enroll via a web browser on either a computer or a mobile device and not via the Coursera mobile app to enroll for the course and certificate for free. Unfortunately, the promotional price is not redeemable through the mobile app.
No. If you join a contact tracing initiative in a state or local health department, you'll need additional training and ongoing support to learn the local processes and systems as well as other issues that may arise.
