Improving Healthcare Outcomes in Chronic Disease – Enhancing the Curriculum at Masters Level (IHOD)

Improving healthcare

The Improving Healthcare Outcomes in Chronic Disease - Enhancing the Curriculum at Masters Level (IHOD) project received funding from the Erasmus+ Program and the European Union to develop an educational program in the field of improving the effectiveness of the treatment of chronic diseases.

The aim of the project is to represent a radical change in the way healthcare workers manage patients with chronic diseases. The project will use the principles of evidence-based medicine and the best practices of change management.

The coordinator and initiator of the project is University College Dublin (UCD), Ireland, which is responsible for the development of sustainable collaborations and the development of an interdisciplinary master's degree program to improve the effectiveness of the treatment of chronic diseases.

Project coordinator from the Siberian State Medical University

Maria Shevchenko - MBA, Director of the International Education Department, Siberian State Medical University

The project team

Regina Malykh – Expert, Center for International Development and Partnership, Siberian State Medical University

Anna Kovshirina – Expert, Center for International Development and Partnership, Siberian State Medical University

Vadim Poletika – Assistant, Department of Pathophysiology, Siberian State Medical University

Project experts

Dr Olga Kobyakova - Doctor of Medical Sciences, Professor, Head of the Department of General Medical Practice and Polyclinic Therapy, Siberian State Medical University

Dr Sergey Fedosenko - Doctor of Medical Sciences, Assistant of the Department of General Medical Practice and Polyclinic Therapy, Siberian State Medical University

Dr Elena Starovoitova - Candidate of Medical Sciences, Associate Professor of the Department of General Medical Practice and Polyclinic Therapy, Siberian State Medical University

Project status

The project is designed for 3 years, from October 2017 to October 2020. The project was prolonged till January 2021.

Project description

Chronic disease is the major cause of death in the partner countries, Uzbekistan, Vietnam and Russia. All the partner country governments have prioritized action in relation to chronic disease. The World Health Organization point out that there is a need to increase the capacity of health care workers in this area and has noted that training of health care staff at primary level is inadequate to deal with diabetes. To improve healthcare outcomes and reduce the economic burden of chronic disease, enhanced training at post-graduate level will be necessary. There is little or no provision in the specific area targeted by this project in the partner countries.

The specific objective of the project is to support the modernization of the curriculum by developing new and innovative courses and methodologies in health studies related to chronic disease at masters’ level.

The key deliverables are:

• Conducting a study tour of EU universities
• Developing the approach and requirements for the master’s program
• Developing program curricula in line with the ECTS guidelines
• Developing 12 modules and short courses
• Developing a staff training and mobility program
• Running three one- week competence enhancing courses in the EU
• Running 32 one-week “train the trainers” courses in partner HEIs
• Launching the master’s program with further “train the trainers” courses
• Conducting 3 one-month long student mobilities

The impact of the project will be felt in the health sector by having health care workers trained in the new curricula, i.e. the use of the holistic approach to patient care and public health promotion, which acts as a model for other specialists in the sector. The final beneficiaries from the project are the patients who ultimately benefit from improved health competencies and governments who can reduce the costs of treating chronic disease.

Project results

The content of the educational modules "Health education and promotion" and "Patient-centered care" was successfully piloted as a part of the five-days SciCamp Summer School "Healthy Future" in July 2019. The goal of this school was to present an evidence-based scientific approach to the prevention of cardiovascular, oncological, respiratory diseases and diabetes mellitus. The program included lectures by leading specialists, practical training of acquired skills, and the final project.

The participants learned what noncommunicable diseases and their risk factors are, what methods for effective prevention of cancer, obesity, myocardial infarction, etc. exist, what are the most effective prevention strategies, and why health promotion is needed.

In addition, the School's curriculum also included final group projects - the development of prevention programs, that helped participants to apply the acquired knowledge about healthy lifestyles and healthcare organization in practice.

“The lecturers inspire with their presentation and their appearance: they are healthy, fit, beautiful and talk about their topic with interest. At such times it was just incredibly great to be present at the lectures! " - Victoria Larina, a student of the Medical and Pharmaceutical College of the Siberian State Medical University, shares her impressions of the Healthy Future School.

“It was interesting to learn about health care and compliance in Europe - the Maastricht Institute (the Netherlands) and in Italy. The approach to prevention differs significantly: they have a norm for both walkability and various applications for connecting a doctor with a patient, for example, the ALiveCor case, etc. Many thanks to all lecturers for organizing the School and providing the latest data. The information has been recorded, analyzed and will definitely be used,” wrote Sofia Vidyakina, graduate student of Siberian State Medical University, 2018.

Project presentation

Project partners

• University College Dublin, Ireland
• University of Pavia, Italy
• Valencia Polytechnic University, Spain
• Lithuanian University of Health Science, Lithuania
• I.M. Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University (Sechenov University), Ministry of Health of Russia
• Far Eastern Federal University, Ministry of Education and Science of Russia
• Kazan Innovative University named after V. G. Timiryasova
• Siberian State Medical University, Ministry of Health of Russia
• Tashkent Medical Academy, Uzbekistan
• Bukhara State Medical Institute, Uzbekistan
• Hanoi Medical University, Vietnam
• Thai Nguyen University, Vietnam

Contacts