Digitising diabetes education for a safer Ramadan: Design, delivery, and evaluation of massive open online courses in Ramadan-focused diabetes education

• Published in: Primary care diabetes Vol. 18; no. 3; pp. 340 - 346
• Main Authors: Mackenzie, Scott C., Dickson, Jane, Mehar, Salma, Yusof, Barakatun Nisak Mohd, Alselmi, Adhari, Aksi, Bilal, Baxter, Mats Stage, Bickerton, Alex, Bharaj, Harnovdeep Singh, Conway, Nicholas, Cumming, Kirsten M., Lim, Lee-Ling, Lessan, Nader, Ghouri, Nazim, Flax, Tracey T., Osei-Kwasi, Hibbah A., Teo, Michelle ES, Waqar, Salman, Hassanein, Mohamed, Wake, Deborah J.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Ltd 01.06.2024
• Subjects: Adult; Computer-Assisted Instruction - methods; Cultural Characteristics; Diabetes; Diabetes Mellitus - diagnosis; Diabetes Mellitus - therapy; Education, Distance; Fasting; Female; Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; Humans; Islam; Male; Massive open online course; Middle Aged; Patient Education as Topic; Program Development; Program Evaluation; Ramadan; Religion and Medicine; Self-management education; Massive open online course; Fasting; Diabetes; Ramadan; Self-management education
• ISSN: 1751-9918; 1878-0210; 1878-0210
• DOI: 10.1016/j.pcd.2024.03.002

Ramadan-focused diabetes education is critical to facilitate safer Ramadan fasting amongst Muslim people living with diabetes. We present the design, delivery, and evaluation of two parallel massive open online courses (MOOCs) in Ramadan-focused diabetes education for people with diabetes and HCPs. Two Ramadan-focused diabetes education MOOCs were developed and delivered for Ramadan 2023: one for HCPs in English, and another for people with diabetes in English, Arabic and Malay. A user-centred iterative design process was adopted, informed by user feedback from a 2022 pilot MOOC. Evaluation comprised a mixed-methods evaluation of pre- and post-course user surveys. The platform was utilised by people with diabetes and their family, friends and healthcare professionals. Overall, a total of 1531 users registered for the platform from 50 countries, 809 started a course with a 48% subsequent completion rate among course starters. Qualitative analysis showed users found the course a user-friendly and authoritative information source. In the HCP MOOC, users reported improved post-MOOC Ramadan awareness, associated diabetes knowledge and ability to assess and advise patients in relation to their diabetes during Ramadan (p<0.01). We demonstrate the potential of MOOCs to deliver culturally tailored, high-quality, scalable, multilingual Ramadan-focused diabetes education to HCPs and people with diabetes. •Education is needed to help Muslim people with diabetes navigate Ramadan fasting.•Existing self-management education lacks accessibility and scalability.•We delivered Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) on diabetes and Ramadan.•1531 individuals from 50 countries registered for the MOOCs.•Mixed-method evaluation found MOOCs as acceptable and engaging platforms.