What you will study
This is an introductory course in which you will develop an understanding of the following:
- What is diabetes? introduces different types of diabetes and the parts of the body and physical processes involved in the development of this condition.
- Awareness of care looks at the team and service sector involved in diabetes care, standards for good care and the characteristics of an empowering relationship between practitioners and people with diabetes.
- Medical management explores the diagnosis of, and treatments for diabetes including insulin and non-insulin therapies.
- Screening for complications of diabetes discusses long-term complications, their effect on the person with diabetes, and the screening which is carried out to detect them.
- Monitoring risk factors for diabetes complications further discusses the risks of long term complications and examines the diabetes annual review in detail. It examines the factors that increase these risks and how they are monitored.
- Hyperglycaemia and Hypoglycaemia considers some general principles for treating high and low blood glucose levels. Situations that cause variations in blood glucose control and how people with diabetes can manage these is considered as well.
- Psychosocial aspects of diabetes considers the psychological and the social consequences of living with diabetes.
This is a multimedia online course and will require around 55 hours of your time in total. You will learn through a carefully structured programme of study that incorporates interactive activities and video material. Although this course does not carry university credit, regular computer marked tests and self reviews can be used to test your understanding.
A Learning Advisor will also be available to you via a forum on the website, to answer questions and provide advice on the course learning resources and help you apply your learning to your workplace.
The strong link between course learning and your work practice creates relevant, enduring and transferable outcomes – and the learning is far richer than more expensive one-to-three day workshops.
The course features the distinctive strengths of The Open University (OU) from its years of expertise in supporting learning:
- The convenience of accessing its clearly presented and sequenced materials and activities whenever suits you and wherever you have access to the protected course website – if you prefer, you can print key materials to work on them offline. Note taking templates are available and saved for you in the virtual learning environment.
- Statement of participation from the OU which you can use this to demonstrate your continuing professional development (CPD) activity to your employer and/or professional body. (N.B. The course does not carry academic credit points.)
Some of the pages within the module contain links to external sites. Accessing these sites is part of the allocated study time for the module. You may also wish to undertake additional background study or reading if some of the concepts introduced are completely unfamiliar to you.
Vocational relevance
This course focuses on person-centred practice and so it is highly relevant to health and social care staff at all levels (registered practitioners and non-registered support staff), those directly involved in frontline care and those who need to understand the major challenges of diabetes and the importance of supporting service-users to ensure effective monitoring and management of diabetes. Participants will establish a strong link between what they learn and their work practice.
The way the course is delivered means it is accessible to people working in acute, community and domiciliary settings; staff have access to learning at any time that suits them (24/7) and can refer back to case studies, guidance and learning points at any time – even after they have completed study. This ensures that outcomes from study can be applied in practice long after the course has been completed. We are proud of the way the course creates relevant, enduring and transferable outcomes for health and social care service.
Professional recognition
Completion of the course enables us to recognise your work through an OU statement of participation that you can use to document your commitment to continuing professional development in your personal portfolio, or to provide evidence to employers or professional body.