The IMTF and Faculty of Medicine University of Southampton have developed an eLearning course titled “Caring for Infants and young children with severe malnutrition” based on the WHO recommended guidelines for the management of severe malnutrition. The course aims at providing a standardised and accessible resource that will facilitate the acquisition by health professionals of core competencies in the care and management young children with severe acute malnutrition.
The course is officially launched. It can be accessed through the Faculty of Medicine University of Southampton website at www.som.soton.ac.uk/learn/test/nutrition. Users would need to register and create user names and passwords, which can be used to access the course.
This project is in response to the urgent call to reduce deaths and disability among young children and to address inadequate competencies among health professionals in the identification, prevention and treatment of severe malnutrition, contained in the Johannesburg and ANEC IV Nairobi resolutions.
The course is in three modules. In the first module users will learn the definition and classification of malnutrition, visible and invisible changes caused by malnutrition and why malnourished children need different care from other sick children. In the second module users will learn the assessment and screen options for malnutrition, how to take measurements and examine a child for malnutrition and in the third, users learn the WHO’s 10 steps to managing malnutrition and how community- and facility-based approaches can be integrated to widen coverage.
An evaluation study was carried out to demonstrate the effectiveness of the course and appropriateness of its delivery in Kampala, Uganda in 2010 in collaboration with the Uganda Paediatric Association. Eighty six health professionals comprising nurses and midwifery students, doctors, medical students and nutritionists were involved in the evaluation. The course was well received for its design. Participants knowledge, understanding and competencies in the identification and management of severe malnutrition were significantly improved after the study.
Use the links below to access the user manual, evaluation report, presentations and publications which have ensued from this project.
User manual
Conference presentations
Title: An innovative approach towards building core competencies of health professionals for the management of severe malnutrition in infants and children
Conference: Asian Pacific Congress of Clinical Nutrition
City&Year;: Bangkok 2011
Title: Challenges in developing open and accessible medical education resources: lessons learnt from Uganda
Conference: Association for the Study of Medical Education
City&Year;: Edinburgh 2011
Title: eLearning as a solution to train doctors and nurses to manage malnutrition in children
Conference: Commonwealth Association of Paediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition
City&Year;: London 2011
Title: Building core competencies for the prevention and treatment of severe malnutrition in infants and children: the role of eLearning
Conference: Federation of African Nutrition Societies
City&Year;: Abuja 2011
Gallery
Visit our gallery to access photos from the Uganda evaluation study
Youtube link
Information about the course can be found through this youtube link
i will be grateful to be part of this fruitful studies and help build capacity and contribute immensely in the eradication of acute malnutrion
I like nutritional courses