Weekly outline

  • Introduction

    "Hello and welcome to your SORMAS Basics e-learning course!
    I'm Dr Ominio, your guide on this journey"

    1. About this course

    Over the next few weeks, I’ll be with you every step of the way, helping you navigate through the ins and outs of this powerful tool to detect and prevent disease outbreaks. Whether you're here for a refresher or you're just starting out, this course is designed to empower you with the knowledge and skills to make a difference in the world of public health.

    Don't worry if you can't complete it all at once; you can pause and resume whenever you're ready. There is a course index to help you find each section (look on the left side of this page).So grab your smartphone or laptop, and let’s dive into the world of SORMAS, where data drives action, and every click can contribute to saving lives.



    • About this course

      We invite you to complete this free 12 hour course as an introduction to SORMAS. We suggest you study and practice for two hours a week over six weeks.However you can finish much faster if you like!

      Through interactive activities like flashcards, quizzes, and games, you will engage with the content, reinforcing your learning and understanding of key concepts.As you progress you will earn badges and points to show your progress. Optional activities, links and videos are provided. The essential activites will be marked as complete after you have completed each task. If you achieve a passing grade of at least 70% in the final assessment, a digital certificate will be issued on completion.

      Learning Objectives:

      ✔️   Understand the purpose of SORMAS Software

      ✔️   Know how each person contributes to a larger team to collect and understand health data 

      ✔️   Be motivated to keep on building your SORMAS skills to support your community

       


      🕑   Duration: 10 - 15 hours

      👥   Audience: General: No previous experience in SORMAS required

      📲   Device: Laptop, tablet or smartphone. Particpants should be comfortable navigating mobile devices, accessing apps, and using basic device functions. Screen shots of SORMAS are based on a medium screen as seen on a laptop

      📶   Internet: The course requires internet to view the videos, but other learning can be completed offline using the Moodle App

      📔   Certificate: Completion tracking and certificate is available if you create an account and are logged in with your full name and email address to receive a certificate



      To claim a Certificate:

      Step 1:
      Create an account  
      You will need to provide an email address and full name

      Step 2:
      Learn about SORMAS and Practice
       
      Step 3:
      Pass the final Knowledge tests

      Download your digital certifcate
    • Page icon
      Introduction to SORMAS Page
      Students must
      View
    • What is SORMAS?

      Now, let's imagine we're dealing with a jigsaw puzzle, but instead of picture pieces, we're piecing together the details of people's health situations. In SORMAS, every person is like a central puzzle piece linked to several scenarios—cases, contacts and events - each scenario being another piece of the puzzle. SORMAS is a digital health diary that records everything from symptoms, tests and doctor visits for many people in a community.

      Cases

      So, what's a SORMAS case? Think of it like a health snapshot of a person at a specific time. For example, if Mr. A feels under the weather and is suspected to have a contagious disease, this scenario is captured in SORMAS as a 'case'.

       
      Contacts

      Then, there's the 'contact'. If Mr. A had lunch with Ms. B, she becomes a 'contact' because she's been in close proximity to Mr. A. SORMAS notes this and assigns a task so she will get regular check-in calls to ensure she's symptom-free during the incubation period. If Ms. B starts feeling unwell, her SORMAS entry can quickly turn into a case too.
      Events

      Imagine an event now—say, a concert. SORMAS tracks everyone who visited the venue as 'event participants'. This helps in case the concert turns out to be a super-spreader event—everyone's details are already noted, just in case.

       

      Every piece of personal information, from names to birthdays, adds to each person's central profile in SORMAS. Think of it like the box cover of our jigsaw puzzle, showing us the full picture. And just like that, SORMAS links all the pieces together—cases, contacts, events —to form a complete, up-to-date picture of a person's health-related experiences. Isn't it fascinating how it all comes together?"

      I invite you to take a few hours a week over the next few weeks to explore SORMAS with me, The first week is the most interesting! We have stories from people you can relate to and offer concrete examples of how SORMAS is an essential part  of your commnuity.

      There are links below with reading and learning activities. 

      Start reading An Introduction to SORMAS and then read a story from Zanzibar, Tanzania.