Developing Multi Disciplinary Research for Diabetic Care: Lessons Learned

Abstract

The prevalence of type 2 diabetes among adults is increasing worldwide. Multi-disciplinary research is becoming increasingly commonplace in diabetic research. In many healthcare systems globally, diabetic care is driven by multidisciplinary diabetic teams. A large number of studies in the past few years and across different countries have been performed to better understand how these teams work and how they manage diabetic patient care. In order to curb the rising epidemic, novel disease management strategies are needed with a focus on care organization, delivery and patient and family behavioural modification. These challenges are best approached by an organized, multidisciplinary health care team focused on delivering high-quality patient care. The aim of this presentation is to provide an evidence-based summary of the use of multidisciplinary research in diabetic care in a developing country. The presentation discusses appropriate use of multidisciplinary research involving clinicians, nurses, complementary medicine practitioners’, patients and family members in diabetes care. In particular, how multi-disciplinary health research teams can be used to improve diabetic care. A range of factors pertaining to teamwork, perspectives of different disciplines, availability of patient information, can affect how well multidisciplinary diabetic teams are implemented within diabetic patient care. This presentation concludes with practical possibilities of conducting multidisciplinary research to provide better patient care in Sri Lanka.