{"id":123189,"date":"2020-07-21T13:55:01","date_gmt":"2020-07-21T23:55:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=123189"},"modified":"2020-08-07T11:05:52","modified_gmt":"2020-08-07T21:05:52","slug":"uh-trained-contact-tracers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2020\/07\/21\/uh-trained-contact-tracers\/","title":{"rendered":"UH<\/abbr> contact tracing trainees want to help Hawai\u02bbi\u2019s communities"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading time: <\/span> 4<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>

\"Graphic<\/p>\n

By the end of this week, the University of Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span>–Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> State Department of Health (UH-DOH<\/abbr>) Contact Tracing Training Program<\/a> will have trained nearly 450 qualified individuals who will be available to be activated by the DOH<\/abbr>, as needed, to trace known contacts of COVID-19<\/abbr> positive cases throughout Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span>. <\/p>\n

Track 1: Contact Tracing for Clinical Healthcare Professionals<\/a>, a 1.5-day training course, trained a total of 393 individuals after its completion on July 17. Track 2: Community Contact Tracer Training<\/a>, a six-week course available year-round for those with bachelor\u2019s degrees without necessarily having a clinical health background, will graduate 49 individuals from its first cohort on July 24.<\/p>\n

Aimee Grace<\/strong>, UH<\/abbr> System lead and director of the UHealthy Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> Initiative, reiterated the university\u2019s appreciation to the community for all of the volunteerism and support. “We remain incredibly grateful to every person that has stepped up and reached out to be part of the UH-DOH<\/abbr> Contact Tracing Training Program,” she said. “Together, we will help to support the DOH<\/abbr> in its contact tracing needs to best address the COVID-19<\/abbr> pandemic while building critical health workforce capacity for Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span>\u2019s future.”<\/p>\n

Three participants from the UH-DOH<\/abbr> program share more about why they decided to apply and become part of the state\u2019s cadre of contact tracers during this critical period.<\/p>\n