The training course on the use and application of cardiovascular risk chart in clinical practice has been developed by the Epidemiology of Cerebro and Cardiovascular disease unit of the National Centre for Epidemiology, Surveillance and Health Promotion (CNESPS), in collaboration with the Ministry of Health (CCM), the Italian Drug Agency and the Italian Associations of GPs, under the framework of the National Training Plan.

 

The training path foresees 5 sequential modules on the acquisition of new skills in the use of global absolute risk chart and individual risk score (modules 1, 2), on their application in clinical practice (module 3) and on the assessment and dissemination of results (modules 4, 5).

 

Module 1

Title: Importance and use of the global absolute risk chart in clinical practice.

Description: residential course for general practitioners (GPs) on the general features of global absolute risk and on risk assessment tool. Teaching materials include handbook for participants containing lessons and exercises, technical and in-depth sheets, bibliography. An in-depht distance-training course with case studies is also foreseen.

Click here to go to the handbook contents

Duration: 5 hours.

Modality: residential. Frontal teaching with plenary discussion, small groups work on clinical cases followed by presentations and plenary discussion, practical individual work followed by individual presentation and plenary discussion, technical demonstrations, role-playing.

Learning objectives:

• assessing cardiovascular risk using the risk chart and the individual risk score
• identify the patients most in need of support and the proper counselling strategies
• describe standardized methodologies to calculate risk.

Module 2

Title: Risk communication, promotion of healthy lifestyles and drug treatment for the risk chart application.

Description: residential course on lifestyles, drug treatments and counselling. Teaching materials include handbook for participants containing lessons and exercises, technical and in-depth sheets, bibliography. An in-depth distance-training course with case studies is also foreseen.

Click here to go to the handbook contents

Duration: 5 hours.

Modality: residential. Frontal teaching with plenary discussion, small groups work on clinical cases followed by presentations and plenary discussion, technical demonstrations, role-playing, practical individual work followed by individual presentation and plenary discussion.

Learning objectives:

• describe and apply the recommendations to keep cardiovascular risk under control through the adoption of healthy lifestyles
• use some counselling techniques to communicate risk and promote healthy lifestyles
• describe the most appropriate drug treatment for each different condition.

Module 3

Title: Application of risk chart into the GPs practice.

Description: module dedicated to the application of cardiovascular risk assessment to patients and to collection of GP activity data. Each GP is expected to apply the risk chart on at least 100 patients (healthy people actively engaged by their GP, ages 35-69 and free from previous cardiovascular event). Collected patient data must be stored in the cuore.exe software and then forwarded to the National Institute of Health. The self-assessment and research process is also possible by using the risk chart: this allows GPs not using the PC to participate in the research process; of course, in this case another sanitary institution (districts, services or agencies) will be responsible for data coding, input and analysis. The number of patients engaged by the GP serves as an indicator for monitoring the progress of the training program and a further proof that the GP attended the course.

Duration: 4 weeks.

Modality: self-training within the individual professional setting.

Learning objectives:

• introduce the cardiovascular risk chart into individual medical practice
• collect data of cardiovascular risk prevention activity.

Module 4

Title: Research and assessment for the application of cardiovascular risk chart into clinical practice.

Description: residential module which foresees the elaboration of data by GPs attending the course and the assessment of activities performed. It is organized in the local sanitary institution and can be part of the research project launched by the Region under the Prevention Plan, within the framework of the cardiovascular risk chart dissemination.

Duration: 5 hours.

Modality: residential.

Learning objectives:

• self-assess cardiovascular risk chart application into individual clinical practice
• elaborate results of collected data
• participate in a working group for analysis and results evaluation
• evaluate the activities performed and plan possible measures to improve
• develop a results communication plan for module n.5.

Module 5

Title: Communication of risk chart application results.

Description: this module represents the final step in the training process. An institution or regional workshop will be the proper occasion for GPs who attended the course to present the results, in terms of process and output, of risk chart application into medical practice: number of patients whose risk was measured by age range and gender; risk level distribution (high, to be kept under control through the adoption of a healthy lifestyle, low) by age range and gender. A comparison with national and regional data on risk factor is recommended. This module is to be organized and integrated into the regional prevention plans.

Duration: 5 hours.

Modality: residential.