The health centers of Mérida and several bordering populations begin the 'Patient's Classroom', a pioneering initiative of the Management of the Health Area of ​​Mérida framed in the strategy of care for the chronicity of Extremadura and which aims to correspond to the patient incare of your own health.The classroom begins with diabetic patients, taking into account that diabetes mellitus is a chronic pathology that constitutes an important health problem worldwide, due to the number of people affected and by the socioeconomic involvement of the control and treatment of theillness and its complications.

Subsequently, and as this project progresses, other pathologies that also have an important prevalence between the Extremadura population will be progressively introduced, as detailed by the manager of the health areas of Mérida and Don Benito-Villanueva de la Serena, GustavoTomás Vega, and the Coordinator of Primary Care Teams, Dr. Rocío Domínguez Guerra.This first phase, focused on diabetological education, aims to improve the patient's quality of life and its environment, by acquiring the necessary skills for "the self -care responsible for its illness," reports the Board in a note.

This change raises the need to generate "new organizational models and provision of services", in which patients assume greater responsibility and are more active in health care, improving therapeutic compliance, the number of visits to the doctor/nurse offamily and hospital admissions due to diabetes complications.Within the framework of this initiative, patients receive training for a better knowledge of their illness and their self -care to be, in short, co -responsible for their pathology.

Patient capture is performed through UBA (basic welfare unit).Four workshops will be taught weekly, with a number of 8-10 patients and duration, according to the needs and characteristics of the group.The personnel responsible for imparting the workshops will be composed of primary care professionals from the UBA of Aljucén, Urban Health Centers, II and III of Mérida and an EIR (Internal Resident Nurse), led by Dr. Rocío Domínguez Guerra.All these activities are aimed at an improvement in the quality of patient care and to enhance a greater approach between health, managers and population.