PROCESS

First, you will be assigned as one of a team of 3 students who are portraying occupational health nurses. You will pick one of three expert roles within the team.

• Clinical practice expert – the team member who serves as the clinical practice, evidence-based guidelines expert.
• Diversity expert – the team member who serves as the cultural, ethnic, and diversity expert.
• Patient education expert – the team member who serves as the patient education expert.

Once you've selected an expert role to play, you may pursue your role individually until you have collected the information needed to prepare the materials as a team for completion of this task. You are encouraged to share the resources you accumulate during your search with your team members, as this will facilitate completion of the group patient education materials and PowerPoint presentation. Here are the individual components of each expert role:

Clinical Practice Expert – Using journal articles and web resources, research the clinical aspects of metabolic syndrome. Answer the following questions. Your answers should be of sufficient detail – somewhere between 4 to 8 sentences in length – and should be documented on the web page that will be made available for your team.

1. Which organizations have been at the forefront of setting forth clinical practice standards for the treatment of metabolic syndrome?
2. What does the research say about the relationship between diet and exercise and metabolic syndrome?
3. Describe how evidence-based practice guidelines are developed.

Diversity Expert – Using journal articles and web resources, research the cultural/ethnic aspects of lifestyle and metabolic syndrome. Answer the following questions. Your answers should be of sufficient detail – somewhere between 4 to 8 sentences in length – and should be documented on the web page that will be made available for your team.

1. Which organizations and individuals have been at the forefront of exploring cultural/ethnic diversity in metabolic syndrome (or any aspect of metabolic syndrome)?
2. Describe the state-of-the-knowledge of which cultural/ethnic/racial groups have higher rates of metabolic syndrome.
3. Describe the findings of research articles in relation to cultural/ethnic (particularly “western”) lifestyle and the development of metabolic syndrome.

Patient Education Expert – Using journal articles and web resources, research the patient education aspects of metabolic syndrome. Answer the following questions. Your answers should be of sufficient detail – somewhere between 4 to 8 sentences in length – and should be documented on the web page that will be made available for your team.

1. Which organizations have developed patient education materials for metabolic syndrome?
2. Describe the manner in which patient education materials describe diet and exercise distinct from metabolic syndrome. In other words, are there benefits of lifestyle changes in exercise and diet other than the effects related to metabolic syndrome?
3. Describe important issues to consider when developing patient education materials.

Organizing Information As You Go

Type your individual role questions into a Microsoft Word document so that you can add information to them as you explore journal articles and websites.

Keep your desired products in sight and organize your work around these things:

• Individual answers to the three questions based on your role
• Individual 2-3 relevant and high quality journal articles in APA format
• Individual 2-3 relevant and high quality web resources in APA format
• Group patient education handout/brochure
• Group Microsoft PowerPoint presentation for colleagues

Visit the RESOURCES section next to view some web, library, and collaboration resources that will launch you in completing your task!