Description
The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted gaps in infection prevention and control (IPC) knowledge and practice in U.S. healthcare settings. IPC in healthcare stops the spread of infections, preventing illness and death and protecting patients and healthcare personnel. There is a need to strengthen healthcare IPC practices, inform IPC recommendations, improve how healthcare personnel IPC competencies are assessed, and develop evidence-based approaches to IPC training and education. This Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) provides real-world implementation solutions for CDC’s evidence-based guidance, during both normal operations and during emergencies. Through this NOFO, CDC will continue to protect Americans by improving the safety and quality of healthcare. This NOFO supports the priorities of the National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, including the prevention of the spread of infectious diseases by enhancing healthcare infection prevention and control (IPC). This NOFO will engage organizations (e.g., academic institutions, healthcare systems, and non-governmental organizations) not currently or routinely engaged by existing programs. CDC will establish and expand partnerships with academic, healthcare, and other organizations to address common IPC failure modes; enhance correct implementation of IPC protocols and work processes; and strengthen healthcare worker training and competency assessment. This NOFO supports activities to assess and remove barriers to success, improve communication of IPC information and instructions to healthcare workers, and understand how to optimize the layout and functional flow of healthcare environments and processes. This NOFO will support organizations uniquely positioned and have the capacity to advance the design, delivery, and effectiveness of IPC training, education, and competency assessment to improve healthcare worker IPC practice and increase health department support of healthcare IPC and outbreak response. The work conducted supports public health and healthcare practice by informing development of guidance and recommendations; translating guidance and recommendations into practices implementable in diverse healthcare settings; and improving how healthcare and public health personnel are trained and how competencies are assessed. The recipients supported through this two-component NOFO will lead efforts to improve implementation of healthcare IPC. Strategies within Component 1, improving the safety and quality of healthcare and protecting healthcare personnel and patients by strengthening IPC, will improve healthcare facility structure, design, and organization; optimize materials and equipment design and safe use across healthcare settings; improve IPC work processes, procedures, and practices; promote standard practices to ensure healthcare environments are safe for healthcare personnel and patients, including by optimizing the safety of the air, water, or surfaces in the healthcare environment; and strengthen healthcare IPC preparedness. Component two, strengthening healthcare personnel IPC training, education, and competency assessment, seeks to develop and evaluate innovative and effective IPC training and education approaches; and implement improved or novel approaches to healthcare personnel competency assessment. Component 2 also includes improving the ability of the U.S. public health workforce to support healthcare IPC and prevent and respond to healthcare-associated infections (HAI) and antibiotic resistance (AR). In 2020, CDC launched Project Firstline, a collaborative of healthcare, public health, and academic partners committed to strengthening healthcare IPC practice and training. This NOFO supports Project Firstline implementation through strategies that improve the design and effectiveness of training and education for healthcare personnel. By engaging a diverse set of partners and investing in work that supports a broad range of healthcare personnel populations and healthcare settings, this work supports CDC’s efforts to strengthen health equity, protect populations at increased risk for negative outcomes, and address disparities in IPC training and competencies. Successful applicants will demonstrate specialized expertise, infrastructure, technological capabilities, and partners to strengthen healthcare IPC. Work proposed can be complementary to but must not be duplicative of work funded by CDC through any other mechanism. Types of organizations that may be funded through this cooperative agreement include, but are not limited to, private and state-controlled academic institutions, healthcare systems, clinicians and other healthcare professionals, non-governmental organizations, healthcare professional organizations, and other institutions with expertise that can improve healthcare IPC in the United States.