“Celiac Disease Online Course: Impact and Barriers to Diagnosis”
“Celiac Disease Online Course: Impact and Barriers to Diagnosis”
Between 2010 and 2014, Beyond Celiac offered the free continuing medical education (CME) program for primary care providers, “Defining, Diagnosing and Managing Celiac Disease.” A critical part of the organization’s mission, this program was the first of its kind and reached the medical community on the frontlines of diagnosis.
Beyond Celiac evaluated the program in 2013 to identify the program participants, understand the impact the CME had on the participants’ clinical practice, and understand what, if any, barriers remained in diagnosing celiac disease. As a result of this course, Beyond Celiac and its study collaborators learned that more than 66% of providers planned to incorporate new strategies or change their existing behavior related to actively recognizing symptoms and testing patients. Additionally, another 20% planned to use their new education to properly manage their diagnosed patients.
An abstract of this work was accepted as a poster presentation to the 15th International Celiac Disease Symposium in 2013. Learn more about this study by downloading the poster presentation here.
This evaluation also provided Beyond Celiac a better understanding of the key geographic regions where diagnosis may be more likely to occur in the U.S. These findings are now helping to influence the future of the Beyond Celiac Family Talk program and Seriously, Celiac Disease campaign – the next evolution of the organization’s strategy to drive diagnosis.
Study collaborators include Kristin Voorhees, MA, Director of Healthcare Initiatives at Beyond Celiac; Kristen Sweet, PhD, former Beyond Celiac Intern with her doctorate in Genetics and Molecular Biology; and CME Faculty and Beyond Celiac Scientific/Medical Advisory Council members Doctors Joe Murray and Dan Leffler.
Note:
At the time this research was conducted, Beyond Celiac was known as the National Foundation for Celiac Awareness. Learn more about the name change here.
