Case Study: diabetes education
Anju is a dietician in Port Alberni, BC. She works part-time at both a nearby senior’s home and a community centre. “Port” as it’s known locally, is an ethnically diverse community whose economy is largely resource-based.
One common community health issue she provides care for is late onset (or “Type 2”) diabetes. In fact, among South Asian and Chinese new Canadian women over age 45 in Port there is a diabetes epidemic. An integral part of self-care for adult diabetics is about diet: eating healthily and understanding the role different foods play in maintaining blood glucose levels.
All of Anju’s clients are fluent in spoken English, but struggle with materials written in English. Those who attend her one-hour workshops say they help a lot… but it’s difficult to remember all the information afterwards.
Anju thought she might videotape her next workshop and then create a DVD. That way clients could rewatch her talk whenever – and as often – as they wish. She’s bought a video camera and has a laptop.
Now what?!?
Suggestions for Anju
At the time being I think I can suggest that a DVD would be a good solution for Anju, but I have a feeling that within another year or two that this will no longer be a viable option. I say this, as the DVD as a component on most technology devices is becoming obsolete in favour of online solutions such as YouTube. Nonetheless, in a community such as Port Alberni and with a group of mainly middle-aged new Asian immigrants, I am willing to guess that the most common and easily accessed device is still going to be a TV and DVD player. With this in mind, I would suggest some of the following when going to make her video:
As it sounds like she has regularly given this presentation she should be ready with many resources, visuals, audio etc. and a well polished script. If this is not the case I highly recommend that she prepare this first. As others have suggested, I think it is important that chaptering takes place to break up the information into manageable chunks that can be viewed on their own.
The cost of producing such a DVD should be relatively low in comparison to hosting a website and the time committment to getting this up and running should also be relatively reasonable.
I would encourage Anju to try and make the DVD a collaborative effort and perhaps include interviews with people who have already taken her course. If she can get her group involved in asking common questions this might make others feel more comfortable as well.
Moreover, I would encourage Anju to try and create activities that keeps her members engaged and can provide some reflection and feedback on what they have learned.
Finally, I would recommend that she test the DVD out on all forms to make sure it a) runs properly and b) has an easy start up menu to with a clearly navigable home screen.
As for a timeline:
1 hr recording her presentation
2 hrs conducting interviews and generating questions
2 hrs editing and testing on other devices