27 healthcare professionals from Spain, Finland, Slovenia and Italy will be trained.
A best practice, previously selected by the European Commission, will be transferred and implemented across 12 Member States. The best practice is an evidence-based, reimbursed Dutch lifestyle treatment program for type 2 diabetes, named Reverse Diabetes2 Now and developed by the foundation Voeding Leeft in the Netherlands. Its rationale lies in the promotion of lifestyle changes that can bring improved quality of life in people with type 2 diabetes and healthier blood glucose levels with potential lower medication consumption.
The project CARE4DIABETES, Reducing the burden of non-communicable diseases by providing a multidisciplinary lifestyle treatment intervention for type 2 diabetes, is a Joint Action co-funded by the European Commission under the program EU4Health and it will last 36 months. 30 competent authorities from 14 countries build up the consortium that will work on the project. The expected outcomes are to increase patients’ health and quality of life, reduce healthcare associated costs, and promote capacity building of health systems towards more innovative and integrated type 2 diabetes interventions based on patients’ lifestyle changes.
The Joint Action pilot activities will be implemented, monitored, and evaluated in 12 Member States by involving approx. 860 patients and up to 120 healthcare professionals. Building on the outcomes of the pilot actions’ experiences, the Joint Action partners will focus on sustainability for the long-term transfer of the best practice in their countries.
The ”train-the-trainers” training is addressed to local healthcare staff that will be implementing the pilot actions. Each local team will be multidisciplinary, including program coordinators, nutritionist/dietitians, GPs/internists, nurses, and, if applicable, coaches (or comparable figures). Up to 8-10 healthcare professionals per pilot country have been selected to receive the train-the-trainers action in English by Voeding Leeft. The training courses will be divided per country cluster. The training will include transfer of knowledge by several experts´ presentations. Additionally, participants will practice by doing several exercises, have assignments, and conduct reflection tasks. When applicable, professionals trained by the best practice owner Voeding Leeft will become ”replicators” by training further staff that might be needed to implement the action at national/regional level.