Exploring Effectiveness of Online Nutrition-Related Diabetes Education Training for Interdisciplinary Healthcare Students at a Student-Run Free Clinic

Abstract

Objectives The objective of this project was to explore the effectiveness of online nutrition-related diabetes education training for interdisciplinary healthcare students volunteering at a student-run free clinic (SRFC). Providing online nutrition-related diabetes education training to interdisciplinary healthcare students at a student-run free clinic may increase participants’ familiarity with and confidence in providing nutrition-related diabetes education to patients. Methods Student volunteers (n = 16) at a SRFC watched an online training video on nutrition-related diabetes education. Topics covered in the training video included the relationship between diet and type 2 diabetes, and the use of motivational interviewing and SMART goals to counsel patients with type 2 diabetes. Using a pre-test/post-test design with eight Likert-scaled (strongly disagree to strongly agree) items, students rated statements indicating familiarity with and confidence in providing nutrition-related diabetes education to patients. Wilcoxon signed-rank tests were conducted to test for statistically significant shifts in each Likert-scaled item pre- to post-test. Statistical significance was set at P ≤ 0.05. Results Results showed an overall positive shift in response ratings from the pre- to post-test for all Likert-scaled items. Seven of the eight sets of results had a statistically significant positive shift in response rating (P values < 0.05). Conclusions Findings indicate that providing online nutrition-related diabetes education to interdisciplinary students volunteering at a SRFC has potential to increase their familiarity with and confidence in providing nutrition-related diabetes education to their patients with diabetes. Funding Sources No funding was received.