Background and aims: Type 2 diabetes mellitus is one of the major public health concerns. The current lifestyle and advances in technology resulted in the development of a virtual mode of professional healthcare, which is an effective alternative method of management of patients. This study aimed to assess the feasibility of implementation of a virtual comprehensive care programme during the COVID-19 pandemic, patients’ acceptance and the changes in self-care behaviours, metabolic parameters and emotional factors. Methods: The programme employed in this study included nine health interventions in 1 day. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the mode of interventions, including questionnaires, patient evaluations and a satisfaction survey, was modified to the virtual form in 2020. This study assessed the changes in self-care behaviours, metabolic parameters and emotional factors and compared the data pertaining to patients who received virtual healthcare in 2020 with those who received face-to-face modality of medical care in 2019. Results: During June to November 2020, 130 patients received healthcare by means of the virtual modality. The change in modality of healthcare was feasible and 75% of the patients displayed good acceptance of the same. The evaluation of self-care behaviours included self-monitoring blood glucose (SMBG) levels, foot care and regular exercise. The duration of exercise decreased from 120 to 0 min/week ( p < 0.001). However, there was no change in metabolic parameters. Regarding the mental health parameters, we observed an increase in the proportion of patients with anxiety (21.5% versus 11.1%), depressive symptoms (10.8% versus 4.3%), diabetes distress (18.5% versus 11.1%) and prescription of psychotropic drugs (32.8% versus 18.2%) ( p < 0.05) in virtual versus face-to-face, respectively. Conclusion: The virtual comprehensive care programme for the management of patients with diabetes is a feasible approach that allows healthcare professionals to provide an adequate care during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Background: The e-Learning with flipped classroom approach educational program is an alternative to online learning (e-Learning) and face-to-face learning for addressing the challenges related to long-distance skill training. Methods: Consisting of weekly live-time virtual sessions with expert physicians, available resources including updated guidelines, review articles, and blog interactions between colleagues for discussing the clinical cases to improve learning techniques. The availability of all the content (recorded lectures and bibliography) at any time for review is an important aspect for easy learning. This multimodal approach was directed to medical students working in rural communities to get the necessary skills for preventing, diagnosing, treating, and improving the quality of care in non-communicable chronic diseases (NCCD). In addition, this model includes a pre and post-course evaluation, a quality of care test, and a dropout and satisfaction survey. The students who obtain the approving grade at the end of the course get a certificate with medical endorsement.

No abstract

Point your SmartPhone at the code above. If you have a QR code reader the video abstract will appear. Or use: https://youtu.be/lpblb_tbnDo

No abstract