Implementation Science

This work assesses the effectiveness and implementation of tick-borne disease education and prevention activities in elementary schools.  It is led by Co-Investigators, Dr. Jenny Hall of Radford University and Dr. Katherine Bowman from the University of Lynchburg. 

In August 2024, Drs. Bowman and Hall piloted a Teaching Tick-borne Disease Prevention Professional Learning Opportunity for ten elementary health and physical education teachers in Central Virginia. Teachers' self-reported knowledge, confidence, and skills for teaching TBD prevention improved post-training

 Teachers are currently implementing lessons from the Fight the Bite, Virginia tick-borne disease prevention curriculum, which was included in the training and developed by Drs. Bowman and Hall. Results will be used to improve the training, curriculum, and implementation process for future dissemination.   Access the Fight the Bite, Virginia curriculum through GoOpenVA.org 

The curriculum is currently being revised and updated based on our findings to date.  The new and improved curriculum will be available her and through GoOpenVA later this year.

In this work, we are studying the effectiveness and implementation of geographically tailored, One Health-informed continuing education on detecting, diagnosing, treating, and managing tick-borne diseases for regional healthcare providers.

In July, 2025, public health and nursing faculty from Radford University partnered to develop, deliver, and evaluate a virtual presentation on detecting, managing, and treating tick-borne diseases, with a focus on Lyme disease and alpha-gal syndrome. The education was grounded in a One Health approach and informed by tick, animal, and human surveillance data, as well as patient stories from our Lived Experience Studies. 

Dr. Hall is currently leading a study with a team of five DO students from Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine-Virginia. The study involves short interviews with healthcare providers in Southwest Virginia about their experiences with treating tick-borne diseases and their needs/interests for continuing education.

If you are a healthcare provider in Southwest Virginia and are interested in sharing your experience or learning more, please contact Dr. Hall at jlhall2@radford.edu