BACE - Course 4. Non-Communicable Diseases in the EECA Region

BACE Course 4 "Non-Communicable Diseases in the EECA Region"

Mentor for this course – Dr. Andreas Deckert, Epidemiologist, Senior Scientist at Heidelberg Institute of Global Health, Head of the research group “Noncommunicable Diseases". Andreas has extensive expertise in developing trainings/curricula and conducting/facilitating courses and workshops for undergraduate and postgraduate students and international health professionals in Germany and abroad (Zambia, Malawi, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Georgia, Liberia, Myanmar, Uzbekistan). His areas of expertise include - beside Biostatistics, Epidemiology and Non-communicable Diseases - a number of other topics, such as Public/Global Health, Neglected Tropical Disease, Migration and Health, Health Systems Strengthening, Health Service Delivery, Mixed Methods.

The following Zoom meetings on the BACE Course 4 "Non-Communicable Diseases in the EECA Region" have been held:

17.12.2021

A brief introductory meeting in Course 4. The Team discussed with the mentor: (1) personal and institutional expectations for the course; (2) country needs, gaps and peculiarities in the area of NCDs; (3) necessary revisions to the original course curriculum developed for the project proposal; (4) working mode and schedule for the actual course development.

22.12.2021

The Team (i) discussed the blueprint for the Course 4 “Non-communicable diseases in the EECA region” proposed by the course mentor, (ii) introduced necessary revisions and region-specific elements, (iii) identified and planned the next steps for the content development.

05.01.2022

The Team discussed: (i) NCDs teaching elements they have in their universities; (ii) national NCDs priorities; and (iii) national/regional topics of relevance to be included in the course blueprint.

12.01.22

Same - (i) NCDs teaching elements you have in your universities; (ii) national NCDs priorities; and (iii) national/regional topics of relevance to be included in the course blueprint.

19.01.22

Key discussions / findings /agreements:

1. The group reviewed the learning objectives for the first part of the course. The course mentor, Dr. Andreas Deckert, presented compilation of the learning objectives proposed by the group members in the week before the meeting. Group members briefly reviewed the proposed learning objectives and agreed that the entire blueprint section “Learning objectives” needs to be reviewed once again after the learning objectives for the second part of the blueprint have been jointly formulated.

2. The themes for the second half of the blueprint were reviewed, revised as necessary and finalized. The group members have finalized the review of the blueprint section “Content” which includes main modules and themes of the contact-time material. Material for the practical part of the course (individual/group assignments, case studies, graded assignments, etc) will be defined in the next step. Weight distribution for individual teaching topics/themes will be proposed by the mentor for discussion in the group. It was revealed that partner countries have different definitions of an academic hour (45 min in Ukraine, 50 min in Georgia and Kazakhstan). The group agreed to use “50 minutes” as a reference unit for the academic hour, with the understanding that the Ukrainian partners will have a flexibility to moderate the contact-time teaching material planned for 50 min in a manner that fits within 45 minutes.

3. Finally, the group members kindly agreed to share any textbooks on NCDs the may know of. The course coordinators will enquire with other European partners and colleagues about any textbook they (may) use.

26.01.2022

Key discussions / findings /agreements:

1. Based on the course blueprint version revised by the partners prior to the meeting, the group agreed on the practical approaches to the material development. It was agreed that each teaching session will be co-developed by small groups of 3-4 people with representatives from all three partner countries. The group members and leaders for the first eleven teaching sessions were defined (leaders are highlighted in red in the last column of the current blueprint version). Group leaders are responsible for initiating the contact with their group members and, at a later stage, lead/oversee the course development process. There is an understanding in the group that all the content that will be included in the final teaching material will go through some form of peer review by the group and the final approval by the course mentors.

2. The group has agreed on the tasks before the next meeting on 2 February 2022:

(i) Course mentors will prepare a package of standard templates necessary for teaching material which consists of (a) a Power Point slide template, (b) a facilitator’s guide template and (c) a template for practical assignments (e.g. group work/case study).

(ii) Group members will use this week to meet in small groups responsible for individual sessions and discuss the initial steps: (a) map the existing teaching material on the topic (if available) that may be used as a reference; (b) collect initial thoughts on the structure of the teaching session – what key themes/messages to be included, the weight distribution between input session and practical work, etc.; (c) collect ideas for the practical work/examples/cases from the 3 partner countries; (d) review and revise, if necessary, the time allocation for the session – number of academic hours, number of lectures; (e) define learning objectives for each teaching session; (f) map any sources of information for the content.