A team of health educators from the Patient and Family Education Department of Hamad Medical Corporation’s (HMC) Al Wakra Hospital recently organised a multi-disciplinary programme to help patients scheduled to undergo bariatric surgery better understand the surgical weight loss procedure.
The group education programme, a new initiative for HMC, covered the health risks of bariatric surgery and patient-specific conditions that may influence weight loss outcome.
The programme focused on patients scheduled for a gastric bypass, sleeve gastrectomy or adjustable gastric band surgery, and was designed in collaboration with the Bariatric and Metabolic Surgery, Physiotherapy, Dietetics, and Clinical Pharmacy Departments at Al Wakra Hospital.
Organised and administered by a multi-disciplinary team of nine doctors and specialists from various healthcare disciplines, the programme also educate patients about the required short and long-term follow-up care required after surgery.
According to Abeer Mohammad Ali, Head of the Patient and Family Education Department at Al Wakra Hospital, the objective of the programme is to help patients better understand both the therapeutic role of bariatric surgery as well as the potential side effects.
Topics covered during the education session include the importance of pre-operative and post-operative physical activity as a means of maintaining muscle strength and promoting weight loss as well as preventing osteoporosis and enhancing one’s mood.
Specialists from other HMC facilities also participated in the programme. These include Dr Moataz M Bashah, Director of Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery at Hamad General Hospital; Dr Sabah Adnan, Medical Director of Wakra Hospital; and Allison Robertson, Executive Director of Nursing at Al Wakra Hospital.
For more information about HMC’s group education programme, visit their website at hamad.qa.
