It was a very cold and snowy day at the start of 2018 when I met a film crew at a studio in south London. We were there to produce all the videos for a new e-learning module which I'd somehow volunteered to develop. Luckily most people were able to battle through the elements and we were able to get some great footage. It was my first experience of green screen and it was fascinating to watch the skilled director and camera crew at work.
That module is now finally ready and I'm delighted that it's now freely available alongside our suite of other screening e-learning. Huge thanks to the team at Health Education England for turning my initial thoughts and ideas into such a polished and great-looking resource.
It is easy to find. Once you've clicked on the link below, click on the title ('introduction to population screening') and then hit 'play'.
Access the introduction to population screening module here. Also check out our short video.
The aim of the module is to provide a short, fun and memorable introduction to what population screening is – and isn't. For those of you who work in local screening services, we hope the resource will be a useful refresher to top up your knowledge and perhaps even explain a few things you might not fully understand yourselves.
For other people, who perhaps do not work directly in screening, you've probably heard a lot of screening words but are a bit vague about what they mean. For example, hands up if you could confidently explain what 'prevalence' means.
Don't worry if you can't! Here's an example animation from the e-learning module to fill you in.
The module is also open to members of the public to access without needing to register on the e-Learning for Health (e-LfH) website. So anyone can dip in if they're interested
What's in the module
The module covers:
- what population screening is
- roles and responsibilities (covering the UK National Screening Committee, Public Health England, the Department of Health and Social Care, and the NHS)
- the balance of benefits and harms in screening and why personal informed choice is so important
- important concepts (for example, the difference between screening and diagnosis, and the meaning of terms like 'positive predictive value', 'false negatives' and 'specificity')
- personal experiences of screening
There's also a quiz and logged-in users can get a customised certificate of completion.
I really hope that you enjoy going through this module and find its contents interesting and useful.
Once you’ve completed it, do let us know what you think. You can complete the survey on the e-LfH website or contact the PHE screening helpdesk.
PHE Screening blogs
PHE Screening blogs provide up to date news from all NHS screening programmes. You can register to receive updates direct to your inbox, so there’s no need to keep checking for new blogs. If you have any questions about this blog article, or about population screening in England, please contact the PHE screening helpdesk.