Welcome
COVID-19 continues to pose a significant risk to older adults and people with chronic health conditions. Timely identification, diagnosis, and treatment can substantially improve patient outcomes, yet many eligible patients still miss opportunities for early intervention.
This free, self-paced course has been designed for busy healthcare professionals. Across five short modules (10–15 minutes each), you’ll gain practical, evidence-based strategies to improve the care of patients at high risk of severe COVID-19.
Developed by an international team of clinicians, behavioural scientists, and researchers, the course combines current clinical evidence with behavioural science tools to support effective communication, address treatment hesitancy, and provide culturally appropriate, person-centred care.
Before you begin, please complete the short pre-course assessment using the button below. After completing all five modules, we ask you to complete the post-course assessment to help us evaluate the course, improve future training, and download your Certificate of Completion. Both assessments take only a few minutes to complete.
Each module includes practical examples and downloadable resources to support learning and implementation in clinical practice.
Why shall I complete this training?
This course equips healthcare professionals with practical skills that extend beyond COVID-19, making it highly relevant across a range of diseases and high-risk patient populations.
1. Risk stratification and early intervention
Learn to identify high-risk patients, assess eligibility for treatment, and prioritise timely intervention.
These skills are directly applicable to other infectious diseases (e.g., influenza, RSV) and chronic conditions where early detection improves outcomes.
2. Behavioural science and patient engagement
Apply behaviour change techniques to address patient hesitancy, misconceptions, or low adherence.
Develop skills in culturally and linguistically appropriate communication, useful across all clinical contexts.
3. Clinical decision-making frameworks
Use case-based scenarios to develop structured reasoning and guideline-based decision-making.
These approaches are transferable to managing conditions such as atrial fibrillation, diabetes, and COPD exacerbations.
4. Digital and microlearning delivery
The modular, self-paced format, including online case scenarios and practical tools, can be adapted for other diseases or professional development initiatives.
5. Evaluation and reflective practice
Pre- and post-training assessments support self-reflection and continuous learning, applicable to any clinical topic or training programme.
Modules
Module 1: Are high-risk COVID-19 patients being missed? Improving early identification in practice
By Astin Sokang, Universitas Kristen Krida Wacana, Indonesia; Triana Kesuma Dewi, Universitas Airlangga, Indonesia; Yuhang Zhu, Shandong Second Medical University, China; Gill ten Hoor, Maastricht University, The Netherlands For many adults, COVID-19 causes only mild...
Module 2: Early action, better outcomes: The importance of early COVID-19 intervention in high-risk patients
By İrem Berna Güvenç Erdoğan, Middle East Technical University, Turkey; Iga Palacz-Poborczyk, SWPS University, Poland; Olga Perski, Stockholm University, Sweden; Sheson Tiwari, Psyfolks Education, India; Belgin Ünal, University of Michigan, USA COVID-19 progression...
Module 3: Preventing COVID-19 complications in high-risk patients through behaviour change
By David Simons, Pennsylvania State University; Ayşegül Bakır, Hacettepe University, Türkiye; Johanna Nurmi, University of Helsinki, Finland Typically, COVID-19 is described in the past tense and solely as a respiratory infection. But COVID-19 remains an acute...
Module 4: Living beyond COVID-19: Managing long-term health impacts
By Dominika Kwasnicka, University of Melbourne, Australia and Rizmina Rilwan, Independent Researcher from Sri Lanka COVID-19 after the acute phase: what we’re still learning While the acute phase of COVID-19 has been the focus of global attention, its long-term...
Module 5: Using behavioural science to support COVID‑19 diagnosis and treatment in high‑risk groups
By Tracy Epton, University of Manchester, UK, Lisa Marie Warner, MSB Medical School Berlin, Germany, and Aleksandra Lazic, an independent researcher from Belgrade, Serbia Working with high‑risk patients around COVID‑19 can feel like navigating several conversations at...