Health Services Research provides chronic disease management training
Partnering with the National Association of Chronic Disease Directors, the WVU School of Public Health Office of Health Services Research recently provided health informatics training in the Aloha State.
During the four-day training in Honolulu, Hawaii, July 9-12, Office of Health Services Research Business Research Analyst Mary Swim provided training to 18 members of the Pacific Non-Communicable Disease Collaborative Initiative through an effort led by the National Association of Chronic Disease Directors (NACDD). Members are from the U.S. affiliated Pacific Islands, which include the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, American Samoa, Guam, the Republic of Palau, the Republic of the Marshall Islands and the Federated States of Micronesia: Chuuk, Kosrae, Pohnpei and Yap. The goal of the training was to further empower these health care partners in using clinical data for patient navigation and population health needs for diabetes and related chronic health conditions.
Swim guided participants in completing intermediate and advanced training exercises in use of the Chronic Disease Electronic Management System (CDEMS), a public-domain health registry software application with extensive development and support from the Office of Health Services Research. CDEMS provides navigation tools for providing quality care and management to patients with chronic conditions, and allows users used to create, monitor, track and report on patient data and care.
Through the multi-year, interdisciplinary project, the Office of Health Services Research and National Association of Chronic Disease Directors are working in tandem to build and sustain partnerships and health informatics capacity in the Pacific for chronic disease prevention and control.
“The Office of Health Services Research is privileged to work with our partners in developing tools and skills which empower them to help the populations which they serve,” said Swim.
The Pacific Chronic Disease Coalition was organized to address chronic diseases in the United States Associated Pacific Islands (USAPI). The region spans across twice the geographic size of the continental U.S., crossing five time zones and also the International Date Line, and has a population of approximately 510,000 people.
Diabetes cases in the Western Pacific Region represent 37 percent of the total worldwide cases. According to the International Diabetes Federation, the prevalence of diabetes within the USAPI is among the highest in the world. In 2008, prevalence estimates ranged from 15 percent to nearly 27 percent, compared to that in the U.S. of slightly above 8 percent.
The National Association of Chronic Disease Directors strives to protect the health of the public through prevention efforts and determining root causes of chronic conditions. More information on the Pacific Non-Communicable Disease Collaborative Initiative is available at nacddarchive.org/nacdd-initiatives/pacific-chronic-disease-coalition.
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jw/08/02/19
CONTACT: Jessica Wilmoth
WVU School of Public Health
304.293.0404; jwilmot1@hsc.wvu.edu