Summary
Patient education is a critical component of the healthcare administration system. With improvements in technology and the widespread accessibility of the Internet, awareness programs might also be delivered to patients via electronic platforms. Historically, medical clients have been offered awareness programs through face-to-face dialogue between health practitioners and educators. On the other hand, online medical instruction can be more adaptable and supplement present face-to-face instruction, thus proving essential. When patients and families better understand their disease state, comorbidities, and administration, they frequently become more engaged in their care. This paper aims to provide and recommend an online education healthcare program for both prospective medical students and patients with the primary objective of increasing awareness, thus improving healthcare outcomes.
At the moment, the instructional transformation in the healthcare system is one of the most significant concerning global demographic demands. It is not limited to health practitioner education, as defined by the World Health Organization. It encompasses any mixture of experiential learning to assist families and organizations in improving their well-being by enhancing their awareness or changing their behaviors. In physician education, there is well-established face-to-face learning in the disciplines of medicine that should always be taught practically due to the necessity for face-to-face diagnosis with the client.
However, universities worldwide are developing joint initiatives with these disciplines that enable students to overcome the issue of time constraints during their studies by earning accreditations in courses such as anxiety. Additionally, the students obtain skills in medical data management, nourishment, biostatistics, cognitive science, and psychological well-being. As a result, in the face of medical emergencies, such as the current COVID-19, healthcare personnel and members of any other career path are permitted to obtain the necessary awareness for their respective professions. It should be acknowledged that these digital analyses are beneficial not only for early elementary or middle school teachers but also for progressive specialists and educationalists. As a result, they enable mitigation counseling for both trainees and care recipients. Additionally, the capacity of customers to seek medical instruction content at their time and the ability to allow medical self-management are tremendous benefits of online education programs.
Research and identification of the program
The COVID-19 outbreak has exacerbated undocumented service sector employees’ already stressful and challenging working conditions. Therefore, the program that I see as suitable to offer online during this period is the Online COVID-19 Health and Safety Program. The extensive use of shelter-in-place restrictions to halt the transmission of infection has evacuated millions of employees, costing them their employment (Spinelli & Pellino, 2020). The COVID-19 outbreak has brought unprecedented obstacles to mental training and support (Spinelli & Pellino, 2020). Still, it has also created enormous advancement opportunities that will last well beyond this global health disaster settlement (Spinelli & Pellino, 2020). For the vast majority of the worldwide total, the COVID-19 epidemic was unexpected. The unique virus that arose in late 2019 was utterly unseen by people, highly contagious, and spread across the globe for several months without human resistance.
For the first moment in the US experience, all 50 states declared states of emergency simultaneously. Over 95 percent of Americans were ordered to remain at home to prevent viral transmission and protect overall health (Sönmez et al., 2020, p. 920). Along with massive financial, institutional, occupational, and personal consequences, the outbreak and its repercussions will certainly significantly influence emotional well-being. Social exclusion, economic and medical vulnerability, exposure to unpleasant communication, and distress experienced by nurses may all give rise to many severe mental conditions (Zhang et al., 2020). Moreover, the aggravation of pre-existing mental health conditions has been experienced by individuals during this pandemic.
In the aftermath of the COVID-19 emergency, interested parties in health safety education and training encountered tough choices that required balancing the needs of the consumers. Providing flexibility to medical services, the establishment where instruction takes place, sustaining functionality to value for people served, the training course, and its authenticity have all proved challenging (Almaiah et al., 2020). Additionally, sustaining training effectiveness and continuity of teaching moment and safeguarding individual interns and their loved ones continues to pose difficulties in educating the general public about the disease. Due to geographic disparities in infection rates, environment typology, institutional arrangements, education programs, and medical training centers responded differently to the COVID-19 pandemic (Almaiah et al., 2020). The Online COVID-19 Health and Safety Program will provide an environment where practical instructional and learning activities are offered to mitigate the challenges posed by face-to-face learning.
Therefore, the proposed online COVID-19 health and safety program will provide an avenue for prospective medical students and the general public to gain the necessary knowledge and skills to combat the epidemic. Moreover, since most countries have resorted to staying-at-home policies to minimize the spread of the disease, the market potential for the program is likely to be high. There is a need to increase awareness and boost the skills of prospective medical students and the general public about the pandemic (Daniel, 2020). There are no projections of how long the epidemic will last, and this program would prove worthwhile for all. Globally, numerous people are either interconnected to the Internet or have access to online media platforms.
Furthermore, with the rapid advancements of technological innovations in telecommunications, it is estimated that several people have access to modern digital devices. Most people within the United States and worldwide have access to these communications devices provides a broader market base for implementing the program (Wong, 2021). The COVID-19 crisis has served as an excellent natural experiment comparing the employment and wage benefits of digital training to traditional instruction (Wong, 2021). Thus, digital training is becoming increasingly vital for education during global health crises since it enables students to maintain contact with peers and instructors while still following lectures afar.
What Does the Competitive Space Look Like?
The online market space has stiff competition, and because the entry barriers are minimal, customers have accessible market knowledge, and market segmentation is nearly impossible. Over the last decade, online marketing has made tremendous strides in micro-targeting ads on social media to particular populations through analytics and significant data research (Chaffey & Smith, 2017). All of this contributes to the Internet being the most ideally competitive marketplace ever created. The customer appeal is built on efficiency and cost savings. Therefore, to be productive, prospective customers must trust that their legal and economic credentials will not be exploited before transacting with the site (Zhu et al., 2020). The absence of such trust has been demonstrated to be a substantial impediment to commercial clients completing a transaction (Zhu et al., 2020). Zhu et al. (2020) enumerate that the original purchase is critical as subsequent purchases become clearer, depending on the service qualities and price. Therefore, the COVID-19 pandemic has created a more prominent online market gap that has seen many businesses change their marketing strategies to satisfy consumer needs and enlarge their consumer base.
My program faces competition from other similar programs that offer similar services. Additionally, competing against established online service providers who have already built their brand image to various consumers would not be easy. Consumers would often purchase online from businesses and firms they have made a trustworthy relationships with over the years. Initially, convincing and acquiring consumers to enroll in my services would be a challenge since the prospective consumers would not have been familiar with my program.
The demographics and characteristics of the potential student population
The market for the proposed Online COVID-19 Health and Safety Program would be prospective medical students. The program is meant to increase the awareness and knowledge of future medical students on matters about COVID-19. As such, the following demographic characteristics will best describe the anticipated student population that my program will be recruiting, assisting, and retaining. First, the geographical feature of the prospective students will be within the United States. Having a geographical boundary restricted to the USA would save costs for offering the program and enhance effective teaching and learning activities. Nonetheless, it would be easier to track and monitor learning outcomes for students within the USA instead of having students distributed all globally.
The program will be gender-unbiased, as I believe in providing equal opportunities for all regardless of their sexuality. Implicit gender bias alludes to the unintentional way traditionally entrenched gender stereotypes and attitudes influence our beliefs and behaviors (Klein et al., 2019). With the continued migration of people into the United States of America, there are expected to be different people with different racial backgrounds. Therefore, to reduce the inequalities experienced in the various educational institutions in the United States, my program will recruit students from all racial backgrounds. The age characteristics of the students to be allowed access to the program would range from 16 to 24 years. Senior high school and college students will be ideal for the program. The students should come from middle-income families as I believe they have access to modern telecommunications devices like smartphones and computers to necessitate learning. Furthermore, to avoid straining parents of low-income students through the acquisition of internet connectivity, the program would consider middle-income families and beyond.
The “Value Proposition” of the new program as it applies to the potential student population
The primary reason for the proposed Online COVID-19 Health and Safety Program is to fill the void brought about by the pandemic concerning knowledge and awareness of the virus. Elgendy and Abdelrahim (2021) insinuate that due to widespread ignorance regarding vaccine kinds, dose guidelines, and hygiene standards, global health institutions are launching initiatives to raise public awareness about COVID-19. Therefore, the students’ benefits should they enroll in the program include increased knowledge and understanding about the pandemic and the various techniques to detect and manage COVID-19 patients.
These benefits will be valuable to students in the following ways: first, the students will be in a position to handle extreme COVID-19 cases, hence saving lives. Second, help the government increase awareness among its citizens as not every individual has access to social media platforms. Lastly, students will be able to identify the various symptoms associated with COVID-19 among individuals. Therefore, by undergoing the program on the health and safety of the virus, students will be up-to-date with the relevant information concerning the pandemic, hence lowering the rates of unawareness among the United States population. The proposed online education program on the COVID-19 pandemic is the best since it offers a platform for students to gain insight into the virus and the appropriate methodologies to identify and limit its spread.
References
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