Effectiveness of the online-eLearning program KeepCoool at improving the vaccine cold chain in general practices

Area of Science:

• Vaccinology
• Public Health
• Healthcare Education

Background:

• Vaccine cold chain integrity is crucial for preventing freeze damage, a persistent challenge in healthcare settings.
• General practices often struggle with maintaining optimal vaccine storage temperatures.
• The KeepCoool eLearning intervention was developed to address these cold chain maintenance issues.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the effectiveness of the KeepCoool eLearning program in improving vaccine cold chain maintenance.
• To assess the impact of the intervention on maintaining temperatures within the target range (2-8°C).

Main Methods:

• An intervention study involving continuous temperature logging of vaccine refrigerators at one-minute intervals.
• Practices experiencing cold chain breaches were offered the KeepCoool eLearning module.
• A generalized additive model was used to analyze temperature data from baseline and a six-week follow-up period.

Main Results:

• A 38% response rate was achieved, with 47% of participating practices (22 practices, 24 refrigerators) completing the eLearning.
• At follow-up, significant improvements were observed: 17% of refrigerators maintained target temperatures continuously, and 38% were within range 95% of the time (>0°C).
• Temperatures below 0°C decreased by 63%, with statistically significant improvements in cold chain maintenance (p<0.05).

Conclusions:

• The KeepCoool eLearning program effectively enhanced vaccine cold chain management in general practices.
• The intervention demonstrated a positive impact on reducing temperature excursions and protecting vaccine viability.
• The KeepCoool eLearning resource is freely accessible online for wider adoption.