Summary/Abstract. Just-In-Time Essential Worker COVID-19 Mobile Awareness Campaign
The objective of this effort is to improve essential worker safety through a just-in-time COVID-19 awareness training
campaign. The campaign will push brief (under three minute) modules of interactive multimedia, tailored to the specific
job of the worker, to the mobile devices of over 5,000 essential workers, track worker adoption of recommended
behaviors, and adapt campaign enrollment protocols and training multimedia in response to worker behavior.
Under the existing NIEHS WTP SBIR Phase II project, Cell Podium has started development of software that will manage
the just-in-time and deliver the mobile multimedia modules. The software works through a cell phone’s browser, does
not require participants to download any mobile app, and the campaign is free to the worker and his/her employer.
Content will consist of 10 to 20 brief (under three minute) modules that are specific to the specific job of the worker,
delivered over a three week time frame, and derived from vetted training material posted by NIEHS and CDC. A
partnership with Rutgers School of Public Health Center for Public Health Workforce Development will ensure the
quality of content and instructional design of the campaigns. The worker will be engaged with checklists, quizzes and
opportunities for open-ended feedback, all which provide the campaign with formative and needs assessment with
which to refine the campaign, and information on the worker’s compliance with coronavirus safety recommendations.
The just-in-time nature of the campaign supports not only its use as an unobtrusive job aid, but also supports multiple
opportunities to revise the campaign itself to improve effectiveness.
In response to the urgency of the coronavirus pandemic, project management will proactively recruit workers to the
campaign. The New Jersey Manufacturing Extension Program and the Urban League of Essex County will directly recruit
the workers of their constituents, which include diverse industries and vulnerable populations in New Jersey. These
organization will contact manufacturing companies or workers directly to encourage registration in the application. No
payment is required from workers, and the registration process is simple. As part of formative assessment, reminders
will be sent to encourage participation to any worker who falls behind in the campaign. The outreach to workers is not
limited to the audience of these partner organizations. All organizations, including companies in the business incubator
of the New Jersey Institute of Technology (Newark, NJ), will also be encouraged to participate.