Project Firstline is geared towards providing foundational and practical knowledge directly to more than 6 million frontline healthcare personnel across the United States in order to create a healthcare workforce skilled in core infection prevention and control practices to help to protect the nation from infectious disease threats, such as COVID-19. The National Council of Urban Indian Health (NCUIH) is recruiting Urban Indian Organizations (UIOs) to become Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) Systems Champions to undertake locally-defined initiatives accompanied by a core set of requirements targeted for training and development within the scope of Project Firstline.
Selected UIOs will have the opportunity to tailor activities and learning opportunities unique to Indian Country and to share their knowledge and expertise in adapting current IPC guidelines to combat the current pandemic on the frontlines of their organizations. Collaborative activities will be facilitated by NCUIH and co-created by UIO IPC Systems Champions in a model that embraces Champions as teacher-learner and relies on 4 key principles of adult learning (involvement, experience-based, problem-centered, immediate relevance).
Under a proposed umbrella cooperative agreement, CDC has provided funding in support of a set of strategies that target prevention and control of emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases, including COVID-19. Project Firstline’s collaborative activities will extend from the following program strategies as chosen by NCUIH:
1. DISSEMINATE AND ADOPT – Support CDC in the dissemination and adoption or implementation of guidance, clinical guidelines, and best practices for the prevention and control of emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases.
2. INFORM AND ADAPT – Inform and support CDC in the development and adaptation of guidance, tools, and best practices, including collecting and communicating individual expert opinions that can inform updates to existing guidance that consider the needs of specific patient populations, clinical specialties, and industry sectors.
3. TARGET AND TRAIN – Engage frontline personnel and lead training in CDC best practices for the broader workforce supporting the prevention and control of emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases. Target guidance and tools to better reach communities or populations at increased risk for infectious diseases and reduce disease spread in targeted workplaces or settings.
The National Council of Urban Indian Health (NCUIH) is seeking applications from Urban Indian Organizations interested in developing or enhancing the IPC training and who are interested in serving as Champions for the Project Firstline training collaborative.
NCUIH will hold a pre-application meeting on Thursday, December 2, 2021 from 2:00 to 2:30PM EST to answer any questions about this RFA and the application process. An Overview of Project Firstline will also be provided.