Collaborative Diabetes Care Services In Nigeria – The Talabi Diabetes Centre Experience In Primary Care

Introduction:

The goal of multidisciplinary diabetes care is to address the multifaceted needs of individuals living with diabetes by adopting a holistic approach for their management. It involves a carefully planned collaborative team work that provides support, education and care.

The core components of multidisciplinary care include the development of protocol for treatment and care, and referral networks. These are known to lead to improved outcomes in people with diabetes.

Methodology:

The Talabi Diabetes Centre is designed to work in close conjunction with the Local Government health services, as well as the State Government’s General Hospital and the State Teaching Hospital which serve as secondary and tertiary referral Centers respectively.

The Centre in year 2012 signed a Memorandum of Association with the Deseret Community Vision Institute (Eye Foundation) by which the Eye Foundation Staff visit the Centre once a month to offer, at very minimal cost, eye care services, which otherwise would have caused those needing their services to embark on a 30 kilometer journey with its attendant cost.

Information was extracted from the Centre’s Register on how many individuals have had eye care service and how many were referred to higher tiers of health care.

Results:

Two hundred and three patients; 182 females and 21 males have had full eye examination. Sixteen patients were referred for further care in our nearby collaborating secondary and tertiary Centers during the year.

Discussion:

Inter-Center collaborative diabetes care remains an important option in nigeria where all the needed specialties are not usually available within a single setting. Our patients have benefited immensely from the collaborative care we offer them at very minimal cost. This collaboration enables early detection, as well asmanagement of complications. The benefits of the collaboration to individuals and the society are unquantifiable.

Conclusion:

The potentials in our collaborative efforts are enormous; apart from greatly improving care and quality of life of our patients, it also presents opportunities for improving the knowledge base of our staff. The outcome of this collaboration has inspired us to seek more collaboration with the other specialists relevant to diabetes management.