Stream	Abstract - Education and Integrated Care
Topic	Education and development for healthcare professionals
Abstract title	Using Adult Learning Theories in Educational Programs for Healthcare Providers in Kuwait Improved Diabetes Knowledge
Co-authors	Z. Rahme1, N. Mesbah1, N. Taha2, F. Sukkar1.
1Dasman Diabetes Institute, Education & Training, Kuwait City, Kuwait.
2Dasman Diabetes Institute, Education& Training, Kuwait City, Kuwait.
Abstract body	Background
One of the most important beliefs in the medical field is that once the student graduates, he would be able to sustain his knowledge, regardless the clinical experience he gets. However, Grant1 explained that learning in medical practice is acquired mostly from on-the job experience. The field of adult learning was pioneered by Knowles2. One of his Andragrogy assumptions explained that the adult learner values learning that is integrated with the demands of their everyday practice. On the other hand, Nash3 and El-Deirawi et al conducted studies, on nurses who had different practices other than diabetes and no diabetes experience. Their findings raised questions about how competent those nurses are in caring for patients with diabetes. The study also showed the growing need to develop specific diabetes training courses4. Therefore, conducting diabetes educational programs for nurses as well as other healthcare providers is of significant value in fulfilling the learning needs arising out of their new practice.
Aim
To demonstrate the importance of training the healthcare providers, from multidisciplinary team, with the purpose of guiding them to a better understanding of diabetes and improve their quality of work using adult learning theories. 
Method
Basic Diabetes Knowledge and Skills Workshop was planned and delivered by Diabetes Nurse Educators at Dasman Diabetes Institute (DDI). The course was adapted from the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) curriculum for healthcare professionals. The course was planned and implemented using adult theory principles, which can provide useful guidance for medical educators. Forty- two healthcare providers who are novice to diabetes attended this course. The workshop took place over five days, 6 hours per day. Three Certified Diabetes Nurse Educators delivered the course. They used different teaching methods for delivering the contents such as interactive lectures, practical sessions and small group activities. Formative assessments with constructive feedback and evaluation were designed to meet the needs of this workshop. Diabetes Knowledge was assessed using pre and post questionnaires.
Results
Score results from pre and post questionnaires were analyzed. Results demonstrated significant improvement in the participants’ knowledge (p is < 0.00001). There was positive feedback from participants who expressed the valuable benefit of the workshop. Most of the learners stated that, the sessions met the objectives remarkably well. Also, they expressed satisfaction with the course content and objectives. 
Discussion
Significant diabetes knowledge gain resulting from the delivery of this workshop confirmed that implementing adult theories into structured diabetes education for healthcare professionals who are novice to diabetes regardless of their previous experience is an essential component of personal development in order to be able to help people with diabetes in their diabetes self-management.

References:
1. Grant J. Principles of Curriculum Design.In: Swanwick T, Editor. Understanding medical education : evidence, theory and practice. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell, 2010.
2. Knowles MS. Application in continuing education for the health professions: chapter five of "Andragogy in Action". Mobius 1985;5(2):80-100.
3. Nash M. Mental health nurses' diabetes care skills - a training needs analysis. Br J Nurs 2009;18(10):626, 28-30.
4. el-Deirawi KM, Zuraikat N. Registered nurses' actual and perceived knowledge of diabetes mellitus. J Nurses Staff Dev 2001;17(1):5-11.
5. Bloom BS. Taxonomy of Educational Objectives, etc. [Edited by B. S. Bloom and others.]: vol. 1. Longmans.
Conflict of Interest	I have no potential conflict of interest to disclose

Using adult learning theories in educational programs for healthcare providers in Kuwait improved diabetes knowledge