INFANT training for community implementation

Why join the course and who is it for?

Join the course to learn about the INFANT program content, facilitating the program and implementing INFANT in your community. The course provides participants with the latest evidence on healthy eating and active play in the early years of life. All participants will get a certificate upon completion for logging their CPD points.

This course has been created primarily for health professionals and staff interested in implementing the INFANT program in their community and as professional development. Participants could include Maternal and Child Health Nurses, dietitians, health promotion officers, parent support workers (INFANT session facilitators), as well as managers, administration support staff and partner organisations (people involved in implementation).

What does the course involve and how is it delivered?

The INFANT course is available online and takes approximately 6-8 hours to complete, self-paced over a four-week period. The set time period gives you flexibility to do the course and ensures that you have a group of peers to work with. Expert course educators from Deakin University will be available during the course to facilitate the discussions, support your learning and answer your questions.

In addition to the full course, refresher training needs to be completed every two years to maintain facilitator status. Refresher training consists of a 1.5 hour online course providing an update on any new evidence or resources relevant to INFANT.

What topics will you cover?

• Latest evidence on healthy eating and active play in the early years
• Learn about the content and delivery of the four group sessions and the accompanying ‘My Baby Now’ app
• Apply program principles and resources to your own community context
• Develop a plan for implementing INFANT in your community

Who will you learn with?

The lead educators are from the Institute for Physical Activity and Nutrition at Deakin University, all with expertise in in early intervention, early life behaviours and prevention of childhood obesity.

What do trained facilitators have access to?

After the course you will have ongoing access, via a log-in to the course portal and website, to a range of resources to support implementation of INFANT in your community including:

• INFANT facilitator manual
• Session handouts and videos
• Parent access to My Baby Now app
• INFANT implementation guide
• Promotional flyers and communication kit
• Case studies of INFANT implementation in a range of communities
• Local evaluation guide
• Support from a Community of Practice

How much does the course cost?

If you are within the Victorian workforce in Government or not for profit organisations (including private practitioners working in partnership with health or community services or the NGO sector):

The training and refresher training are currently being offered free of charge. This is through the support of the Victorian Government; with a portion of the Department of Health funding being allocated to make the INFANT training available to all Victorian Maternal and Child Health Nurses.

If you are from interstate or a private practitioner (not working in partnership with health or community services or the NGO sector):

There are costs involved per participant. This cost for INFANT training and refresher training (as well as the additional components of INFANT) is $798 (ex GST) per person payable on registration.

This cost is inclusive of:

• provision of the training   
• refresher training (see * below)
• the INFANT facilitator manual   
• session handouts and videos   
• access to the My Baby Now App   
• INFANT implementation guide   
• promotional flyers and communication kit   
• case studies of INFANT implementation in a range of communities   
• local evaluation guide   
• access to all other INFANT resources 
• access to newly developed INFANT resources 
• support from a Community of Practice (COP)  
• ongoing access to a facilitator forum. 

* There is a requirement for participants that have undertaken the INFANT training to do the refresher training every two years if they are an INFANT facilitator or if they would like to continue to access the INFANT resources.

A reminder also that the INFANT program is to be delivered to parents and carers at no charge.

If you are interested in implementing INFANT, but want to know more before registering for the course, please get in touch with the team via email infant-study@deakin.edu.au.

Already a trained facilitator?

You may access facilitator resources here and can access information about refresher training here.