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Winter 2003  

Provider Education Update
ByTerri Lupton, RN

The CFIDS Association of America’s ongoing efforts to educate healthcare providers about the diagnosis and treatment of CFIDS received a major boost last fall. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) approved a new contract with the Association to continue our provider education project.

The cornerstone of the five-year-old project is a CFIDS curriculum, developed by national CFIDS experts and taught by a core group of 52 trainers. This “ CFIDS 101” course is offered across the country and can be used by primary care providers — including doctors, nurses and physician assistants — to earn continuing education credits.

The curriculum also is offered as a self-study unit, in print- and video-based formats. A new Web-based format is available at http://www.cfids.org/profresources/print-self-study-module.asp.

In addition to the curriculum, the project also involves attending national and regional healthcare provider conventions across the country. Last fall we staffed a CFIDS exhibit booth at four major conferences.

The American Academy of Family Physicians conference was held in San Diego from Oct.16–20. More than 5,200 family practitioners gathered to obtain the latest information on a wide variety of health issues.

The next stop for the exhibit was the Infectious Disease Society of America conference in Chicago . This specialized group of physicians was interested and open to information on CFIDS. Booth traffic here was very good; an estimated 175 people dropped by to discuss CFIDS and share personal experiences.

On Nov. 8–10, we exhibited at the Pri-Med East conference in Boston . Estimated attendance was 7,500 multidisciplinary providers, which included physicians, physician assistants, nurse practitioners and behavioral health professionals. Compared to past conference experiences, and in terms of the number of visitors to the booth and distribution of literature, this was probably our most successful conference yet.

Boston was the site for another exhibit when we attended the Nurse Practitioner Associates for Continuing Education conference on Nov. 14–16. This event attracted about 750 advanced practice nurses.

CFIDS was in the spotlight at this conference as one of the workshops addressed the illness. Dr. Patricia Major, associate professor at The University of Miami School of Medicine, was the featured speaker for an estimated 75 attendees.

The project also helped spread the word about CFIDS with an article appearing in the December issue of Nursing Spectrum, a national publication for licensed RNs. The article, “Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: Nursing Implications,” discussed ways nurses can assist in the diagnosis and proper treatment of CFIDS.

There is no data to support the following statements; they are based on personal observations and interactions. I believe that receptiveness toward CFIDS has increased, as has the level of understanding of the disorder. More providers asked more questions and shared clinical experiences than ever before. There also seemed to be a greater awareness that a CFS case definition exists to act as a general guideline for diagnosis.

These conferences also acted as a major promotional vehicle for the project’s self-study modules. Requests for the print-based module are on the rise and interest is beginning to increase for the video module. The greatest amount of interest is focused on the new Web-based self-study module. Continuing education credits have served as a vital incentive for learning more about CFIDS, as was anticipated.

Plans are now focused on priority activities for the New Year. These include review and revision of curriculum content as necessary, new train-the-trainer sessions, updates for our current core trainers, development of a curriculum for behavioral health providers and additional exhibits at national and regional conferences.