Online Food Handler Training Project
| Recognizing the immense demand for food handler certification, conducting over 100 food sanitations trainings annually, the Albuquerque Area Indian Health Service (AAIHS), Division of Environmental Health Services (DEHS) didn’t have an option of hiring new staff. In fact, they experienced a 20 percent drop in staff while high demand for their Food Handler Certification persisted. To address the demand while not reducing services, the AAIHS and DEHS staff explored alternative methods for delivering services to tribal customers. In doing so, the Online Food Handler Training was developed. The Online Food Handler Training provides food sanitation training in a format that is convenient for customers while also being low maintenance for DEHS staff. Adult-learning techniques and cultural considerations were incorporated so the message would resonate with tribal customers, potentially leading to increased knowledge and improvements in food safety in tribal facilities. For example the training scenarios involve workers in the fictional restaurant to illustrate food sanitation concepts in a way that is more relatable for food service workers; the names of the restaurant employees are based on bacteria and viruses that cause food borne illness. The Online Food Handler Training application is capable of collecting feedback from users, allowing services to be continually improved. While in-person trainings will continue to be provided, a conservative estimate is the Online Food Handler Training will be utilized by at least 10-20% of trainees, reducing the number of classroom trainings conducted by staff, ultimately reducing cost for the Department of Health and Human Services. Website: www.ihs.gov/foodhandler |
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Online Food Handler Training Project
How do you train over 3,500 people each year in food sanitation when contending with a twenty percent reduction in staff? The Albuquerque Area Indian Health Service, Division of Environmental Health Services’ solution to this problem is an online training designed to be efficient and culturally-relevant, involving multiple Federal and Tribal partners. Due to in-kind services, less than $200 was spent on the project. More details...
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