‘COMPUTER PROGRAMS’

A computer simulator prcgram bnawn as ‘DSF0 haa km dcvekqed to be used in diabews education based on bet& tk modets The pqram simulates mC blood gbrcw dunga that wndd occur in at Wcmgc’ patknt wtth diabetes, Insulin Depmcknt (IDDM) m Nrm-inwlin depcndmt RIIDDM) fal- lowing rltemttws in insulin dxcnpy dtct or cxch‘is2 mei a 24 b pried. It allows patients ior be&h car- pemmnel) to practiss insulin dose m dkmq adjustments to stabittt blood gbwse,ormmpmateforptanocdem+,mddwwsn- sutting eKectr on their omt Mood gbwse pro&. The simtda- dons arc bad MI ptedkticx by diabetes apecialia d blood gluaw lads Wowbag cbmgcs in insvlin tlwapy, diw 01 aeniseinhypnaticatpati~cascs.Tbcpmgmmurertbc individual paticnw blmd glucose kvets as tbc baxline Tar tts simutatinn iJseofdseRomm

t0r. m Pognm does i tdih ptkm whst UI aos they dedds vhrt bxdin ti cbmges thy want to make and the sJtntdato# predict# nrultbtg blood gbwe pmtika based on the ‘we+ patimt with diabetes.

l’k JITOL qtem ainra to help pmctitianen uchange intW_ mrim and es@atly share apedmcc dwdqxd MCI the ycats in the domain of prwentbm ul amputriun with dia- betic patknts. The 6nu-windour model rqz4icatc iixtr main activttks pmfes*onals achim in their ever+q Me. The model has bffi imukmented into a cmntwter pmgmnm It

in@ area. One is dte p&ate d&ate k-mail) area. One hi the

L.V. Hall. J.L. Day, GR. Rayman, Ipsrr*k Diabas Gmr, 77w I+ Iiaqdml NHS TM, lpmid UK

‘Lcpming Diabetes’ is a pmjxa w pmduce Mi kam. b matetial~ for patieefs the pmpk who fate for them and pmfwimud~ Using a mtdtimcdta framewmb, the pm- grammerwid~medwetopedtillmabkpati~wtabea pter role in lhe prom&m 01 their own b&b. caters to better undetstand the needs of tltw they arc for and pmfessionata to wrb ntwe etTectiwty vdtb p&u ti ~mp~ammcs M be& mcdwed, a on inadbwW?ndmt

achime tbk learning materials arc brhg derjsnea to run on laptop. netwmbs and rtmd-aknc PCs.

As well as clsvclcping SpeclRC diabetes apptkaka tbE txuja will alm qua w multimedta fmmewmb for dewI- &dig other m&l multimedia programmu, pttiadarly hr conditions whkh require signiticmt patient bwdvemmt such as asthma and hypuwmion. Feasibility UC tmndaticdt btta alnlmon tSxomean tuwaw i b&r cmlored The tlmkct ir a partnersh~ bet& &my Vi& Piodwttms, i&ch Diabetes Qntre. .Wxw Disbctcs Center, Cqahagcn. ES+ tal (hntonal. t&new St Vincent’s Hospital, Dublbt, and Mtdlt&q Ltd. The pmjwt sixted in Dazmbx 1993 and a pilot w&n of ON *pctton 01 the prcgmmme on hJpa@ racmk witt be avail&k for dmmmratim.

MS Wdtiatirm Rmitairc Infammts.4e et g&m&&). a preicnch Nnputcr-atistcd hypertension and ardiovarmlu risk educatiun plugtam. was ckvelopcd on a Macbtt@& cottt- gututapmvidep&mtsatardia~~rirlitihrmodem interactive educealonat tool combining rtgomusiy wimtitic inhrmattm with the estbetk attnnivenw ol multimedia communication. Patknls arc IcR free to cbmse educational chaptar via a ‘menu’. Learning k conceived as an edwatio- nal game. with an alternation ofqucsliunr. mimatium. expla- nuiotw and 80 imaginary joumcy in Anciat -I. lbc wbdu program t&es 90 to I20 min but the tntemctiun with tbecompuanmbcslwltec,accadinghll~prckrc~lJi tbc user. The results d an interaction arc saved on the had disk, Wing tttc USI to cany un the cdumtiun thmugh