2009 Press Releases
UCC participates in European diabetes education project
24.09.2009
The Catherine McAuley School of Nursing and Midwifery at UCC will represent Ireland in an EU project to improve patient education skills of health care professionals in relation to diabetes.
24.09.2009
The Catherine McAuley School of Nursing and Midwifery at UCC will represent Ireland in an EU project to improve patient education skills of health care professionals in relation to diabetes.
The project will examine, develop and harmonize both the diabetes counselling methodology and the content of health care professionals' education in the partner countries (Ireland, Estonia, Finland, and Lithuania), and will raise awareness about the importance of effective diabetes counselling and patient education in Europe at-large. The project is being launched in Cork today by the UCC researchers Aileen Burton, Sile Creedon, Dr Patricia Leahy Warren and Catherine Buckley with their international partners.
A core value in the Irish national Health Strategy (DOH&C, 2001) is Patient Empowerment. Health care is becoming patient-centered and individualized, so Community health policy must take patients' rights as a starting point. This includes boosting 'health literacy', which is in line with the European Framework of Key Competences for lifelong learning. In 2005 Healthy Life Years were included as a Lisbon Structural Indicator underlining that the population's life expectancy in good health was a key factor for economic growth. The EC can contribute to global health by sharing its values, experience and expertise. This will support efforts to ensure coherence between its internal and external health policies in attaining global health goals. To this end, Savonia University of Applied Sciences, Finland, conducted a Leonardo da Vinci project, "Diabetes knowledge for practise" in 2006 -2007. The objective of the project was to increase the knowledge and to create contacts and dialogue within the European partners to intensify the skills in prevention, treatment and guidance of patients' self- care. The exchange of experts between educational organisations and working life, in different countries, opened the possibilities to inspect practices of care and higher level education from different point of views. There were participants from Ireland (School of Nursing and Midwifery, UCC), Finland, Lithuania, and Belgium. The exchange programme included familiarisation with the diabetes education in the target country, networking with the teachers responsible for diabetes education, familiarisation with the diabetes treatment culture in the target country.
As a result of this cooperation, a multilateral project within the framework of the Lifelong Learning Programme and the Erasmus Curriculum Development -sub-programme, was initiated in the year 2008 to improve patient education skills of health care professionals and funding provided at ?333, 255, 00. The project's (DIPRA - Counselling for Practice - a pilot of improving counselling quality of diabetes) main product will be an on-line study module on patient education and counselling for health care professionals. The envisaged outcome is improved patient self-management and education skills for nurses and other health care professionals, which will contribute to the healthier European population and workforce.
This new programme on diabetes education will introduce innovative teaching and learning methods. The course will be available in all partners' national languages (English, Estonian, Finnish, and Lithuanian) and will be delivered on-line using a blended approach incorporating on-line lectures, web-based learning assignments, interactive exercises, individual and group work, and on-line discussion forums.
Picture shows: Síle Creedon, Aileen Burton (at the back), Dr Patricia Leahy-Warren and Catherine Buckley, UCC
RMcD
A core value in the Irish national Health Strategy (DOH&C, 2001) is Patient Empowerment. Health care is becoming patient-centered and individualized, so Community health policy must take patients' rights as a starting point. This includes boosting 'health literacy', which is in line with the European Framework of Key Competences for lifelong learning. In 2005 Healthy Life Years were included as a Lisbon Structural Indicator underlining that the population's life expectancy in good health was a key factor for economic growth. The EC can contribute to global health by sharing its values, experience and expertise. This will support efforts to ensure coherence between its internal and external health policies in attaining global health goals. To this end, Savonia University of Applied Sciences, Finland, conducted a Leonardo da Vinci project, "Diabetes knowledge for practise" in 2006 -2007. The objective of the project was to increase the knowledge and to create contacts and dialogue within the European partners to intensify the skills in prevention, treatment and guidance of patients' self- care. The exchange of experts between educational organisations and working life, in different countries, opened the possibilities to inspect practices of care and higher level education from different point of views. There were participants from Ireland (School of Nursing and Midwifery, UCC), Finland, Lithuania, and Belgium. The exchange programme included familiarisation with the diabetes education in the target country, networking with the teachers responsible for diabetes education, familiarisation with the diabetes treatment culture in the target country.
As a result of this cooperation, a multilateral project within the framework of the Lifelong Learning Programme and the Erasmus Curriculum Development -sub-programme, was initiated in the year 2008 to improve patient education skills of health care professionals and funding provided at ?333, 255, 00. The project's (DIPRA - Counselling for Practice - a pilot of improving counselling quality of diabetes) main product will be an on-line study module on patient education and counselling for health care professionals. The envisaged outcome is improved patient self-management and education skills for nurses and other health care professionals, which will contribute to the healthier European population and workforce.
This new programme on diabetes education will introduce innovative teaching and learning methods. The course will be available in all partners' national languages (English, Estonian, Finnish, and Lithuanian) and will be delivered on-line using a blended approach incorporating on-line lectures, web-based learning assignments, interactive exercises, individual and group work, and on-line discussion forums.
Picture shows: Síle Creedon, Aileen Burton (at the back), Dr Patricia Leahy-Warren and Catherine Buckley, UCC
RMcD