Course Overview:
This course covers key elements of comprehensive care for people with type 2 diabetes in primary health care, including diagnosis, individualized treatment, self-care, risk management, and prevention of acute and chronic complications.
Course modality:
Self-learning (self-paced)
Course duration:
20 hours
Introduction
Diabetes is currently one of the greatest challenges facing public health worldwide. Both the prevalence of diabetes and the mortality and disability associated with this disease have increased significantly in recent years. The impact of diabetes also translates into high economic costs and a deterioration in the quality of life of those living with the disease. This high burden of diabetes and the ever-increasing number of people affected translate into a growing healthcare burden, which must be borne mainly by primary health care (PHC) teams.
This virtual course, part of the regional implementation of the World Health Organization (WHO) Global Diabetes Compact and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) Better Care for Noncommunicable Diseases initiative, responds to the need to provide continuous, evidence-based training to frontline health care workers. The course aims to strengthen technical capacity and contribute to the formation of health teams that understand and value a comprehensive approach to the management of type 2 diabetes mellitus, with an emphasis on the latest technical guidelines from PAHO/WHO.
This course is part of the Training Itinerary (IF) Better Care for NCDs of the PAHO Virtual Campus for Public Health (VCPH) and can be accessed at the following link: https://campus.paho.org/en/lp/ncd
Purpose
Strengthen the technical capacity of primary care health teams in the diagnosis, treatment, and control of people with type 2 diabetes, with an emphasis on integrated management with other noncommunicable diseases.
Competencies
Upon completion of the course, students will be able to:
- Analyze and describe the epidemiological and etiopathogenic foundations of type 2 diabetes mellitus, identifying the key role of insulin, modifiable risk factors, and the public health impact of this disease.
- Recognize the characteristic clinical picture of type 2 diabetes mellitus to facilitate its timely detection and appropriate clinical decision-making.
- Apply diagnostic criteria and methods for type 2 diabetes mellitus to provide timely health care to people with diabetes.
- Apply the multidisciplinary team-based care model to perform a comprehensive clinical assessment of people with type 2 diabetes, including the detection of gaps and psychosocial risks, to optimize care and health outcomes.
- Apply a comprehensive and individualized approach to the care of people with type 2 diabetes mellitus, considering evidence-based therapeutic goals and cardiovascular and renal risk management to prevent acute and chronic complications of the disease.
- Understand the principles and specifics of a stepwise approach to pharmacological treatment to improve metabolic control and reduce the risk of side effects in people with type 2 diabetes.
- Design and implement an individualized and interdisciplinary therapeutic education plan for people with type 2 diabetes and their caregivers, integrating nutritional therapy strategies, management of comorbidities, and promoting effective self-care.
- Manage acute and chronic complications of type 2 diabetes in a comprehensive and timely manner at the primary care level, applying protocols for prevention, screening, initial diagnosis, and management, and promoting health education to patients and their families for effective self-care.
Target audience
This course is aimed at professionals and technicians working in primary health care (PHC), including doctors, nurses, nutritionists, physical therapists, social workers, psychologists, and other members of the PHC team.
This course can also contribute to capacity building for officials in national noncommunicable disease programs and be used as supplementary material by health care students.
Course modality
This is a self-paced, free, and open-access course in which students can manage their own time and learning pace. The course will be available without time restrictions on the Virtual Campus for Public Health (VCPH) platform of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO).
Course duration
20 hours.
Course structure
The course is organized into an introductory module plus seven modules, which include specific content on the topic, support materials, and self-assessment exercises. The structure is sequential, so in order to advance to the next module, it will be necessary to review all the content and complete the corresponding exercises.
The course modules are listed below:
Module 0: Welcome
This module welcomes participants and reviews the objectives, topics of each module, the assessment method, and how to obtain the course completion certificate.
Module 1: Overview of diabetes
This module provides an overview of the disease, its risk factors, the basic guidelines for the etiopathogenesis of diabetes, the most common types of diabetes according to the WHO classification, and the epidemiological situation of type 2 diabetes at the global and regional levels.
Module 2: Diagnosis of type 2 diabetes mellitus
This module reviews the signs and symptoms of the disease, the available tests and diagnostic criteria for type 2 diabetes according to WHO guidelines, the initial assessment of the person with diabetes, and glycemic control goals.
Module 3: Comprehensive assessment of people with type 2 diabetes mellitus
This module addresses the conceptual basis of care for people with diabetes based on multidisciplinary health teams and the advantages this brings for both people living with the disease and health teams. It also provides an overview of what a comprehensive clinical assessment entails, along with the fundamental pillars and components of this approach.
Module 4: Therapeutic goals in the care of people with type 2 diabetes mellitus
This module reviews the pillars of individualized treatment and the recommended therapeutic objectives or goals in the care of people with type 2 diabetes.
Module 5: Pharmacological treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus
This module reviews medications for glycemic control and presents recommendations for first-, second-, and third-line pharmacological treatment for type 2 diabetes based on PAHO/WHO guidelines. It also discusses the importance of integrating diabetes care with the care of other noncommunicable diseases.
Module 6: Non-pharmacological treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus
This module addresses PAHO/WHO guidelines for the integrated management of type 2 diabetes in adults based on non-pharmacological measures, such as physical activity, smoking cessation, and maintaining a healthy weight. In addition, key recommendations are presented on integrating care with periodontal disease and tuberculosis.
Module 7: Acute and chronic complications of type 2 diabetes mellitus
This module reviews the basic concepts of acute complications (hypoglycemia, diabetic ketoacidosis, and hyperglycemic hyperosmolar syndrome) and chronic complications of type 2 diabetes (diabetic retinopathy, diabetic kidney disease, and diabetic foot), including prevention, early diagnosis, and management in primary health care.
Evaluation and certification
Upon completion of each module, a self-assessment questionnaire will be available to help participants assimilate the information. This questionnaire can be taken as many times as necessary to promote self-reflection and assessment of the learning acquired. At the end of the course, participants will be asked to complete the final assessment.
To promote learning and measure participants' progress, the course includes the following assessment tools:
- Module self-assessments: At the end of each module, a self-assessment questionnaire with multiple-choice questions will be presented. This can be completed as many times as desired, with the aim of reinforcing learning and encouraging self-reflection.
- Final assessment: Upon completion of all modules, participants must take a mandatory final exam. A passing grade requires at least 70% correct answers, with a maximum of three attempts available.
The course awards a certificate of completion for 20 hours of instruction, issued by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) through the Virtual Campus for Public Health (VCPH). To receive the certificate, participants must:
- Have completed all course activities.
- Pass the final exam with a minimum score of 70%.
- Complete the VCPH quality survey.
Graphic concept and design developed by the VCPH technical team. Artificial intelligence was used as a support tool during production.