ADVANCEMENT OF THE PRACTICE
INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVES / SPECIAL REPORT
Unfolding Outbreak Scenarios Can Be a Bite-Size Treat and Other Lessons From New Zealand’s First Online Environmental Health Conference
Tanya J. Morrison, GradDipEH New Zealand Institute of Environmental Health Christine A. Roseveare, MPH, FHEA School of Health Sciences, Massey University Barry R. Palmer, PhD School of Health Sciences, Massey University
of NZIEH considered carefully how this event might go ahead safely. It was mere days after the last face-to-face conference held in March 2020 in Wellington, where 100 years of NZIEH was celebrated, that New Zealand went into nationwide lockdown. At that centennial con- ference, Dr. David Dyjack, executive director of the National Environmental Health Associa- tion (NEHA), acted as master of ceremonies, though his kiwi experience was cut short due to having to return home as COVID-19 started to rapidly spread around the globe. The executive leadership of NZIEH weighed the option of holding a face-to- face event versus going virtual for the first time. It was decided that the gamble was not worth the risk to host a safe event in uncer- tain times. Fortunately, in deciding to go vir- tual, the executive leadership drew from the NEHA Digital Defense Virtual Conference held in August 2020, which inspired NZIEH’s first-ever virtual conference in March 2021. Going virtual was brand new to NZIEH. Questions about how the platform initially would work, what was required of the orga- nizing committee, and if a virtual conference could attract as many attendees as normal were raised. Although the use of technology was the “new normal” way of working and could provide fantastic tools, keeping people engaged virtually over 2 days was one of the biggest challenges to tackle. NZIEH Vice President Jason Rosenbrock suggested the possibility of an evolving out- break scenario to be delivered during the con- ference. The inspiration for this idea came from an online workshop he had attended
'897&(9 The New Zealand Institute of Environmental Health (NZIEH) is a nongovernmental institute for all environmental health professionals in New Zealand. In 2021, NZIEH held its annual conference as an online virtual event for the first time. One inclusion to the program was an evolving outbreak scenario delivered in installments including “injects” of information (i.e., inserts of information relevant to the scenario) that mimic the evolution of a real-life epidemiological outbreak investigation. Questions were posed to attendees related to each added information inject. The scenario also included discussion in virtual breakout rooms that allowed attendees to network and reach consensus before responding to questions; discussions were also initiated by the scenario facilitators. Details of the scenario, its aims, evaluation of success, and limitations of this approach are discussed.
Introduction The New Zealand Institute of Environmen- tal Health (NZIEH) is a not-for-profit, non- governmental institute for all environmental health professionals within New Zealand. Established in 1920, NZIEH has >300 mem- bers who make up >75% of the environmental health ocers in New Zealand. Members are employed by local or central government, pri- vate industry, the New Zealand Defense Force, district health boards, and tertiary institutions. NZIEH has a close working relationship with Massey University, which oers the environmental health ocers qualification either as a full bachelor’s degree or as a post- graduate diploma. Although Massey Univer- sity has campuses throughout the country, it
oers many of its courses online for distance learners. To bring together key learnings, in- person courses are often held, especially for environmental health specialty courses, such as those focusing on monitoring methods where practical skills can be demonstrated and applied. Background In the face of the ongoing global COVID-19 pandemic, everyone’s lives worldwide have been aected, including our work lives. How we used to meet and interact, especially at conferences and training events, seems a dis- tant memory at times. So, when NZIEH’s Annual National Conference was due to be held in March 2021, the executive leadership
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