Online versus in-person training of community health workers to enhance hepatitis B virus screening among Korean Americans: Evaluating cost & outcomes

Authors: Theresa I. Shireman, Alexander C. Adia, Yin Tan, Lin Zhu, Joanne Rhee, Olorunseun O. Ogunwobi, and Grace X. Ma

Korean Americans experience chronic hepatitis B Virus (HBV) at alarming rates, attributable in part to a lack of awareness, screening, and vaccination against HBV. CHWs serve an important role in screening and vaccinating Korean Americans for HBV and HBV-related problems, but limited research has evaluated the cost of training these CHWs to provide care. Theresa Shireman and her colleagues assessed the cost effectiveness of two modes of training (i.e., online versus in-person) to prepare CHWs to perform HBV screening and vaccination. Cost per participant was approximately $1.50 higher for in-person training compared to online, but screening and vaccination rates among those trained in person were nearly double rates among those trained online.