AwareNASH is established to bridge between healthcare specializations by increasing awareness and knowledge about non-alcoholic fatty liver diseases.
Newsflash: more people are currently obese than underweight*. Overweight and obesity often result form an unhealthy lifestyle, characterized by poor diet and lack of exercise. It constitutes a major risk factor for disease, one of those being non-alcoholic fatty liver diseases (NAFLD) – of which NASH is the most severe form. It might not come as a surprise that over 80% of the people suffering from NAFLD/NASH are overweight. However, due to its heterogeneous nature and silent manifestation of its symptoms, NAFLD/NASH remain one of the most underdiagnosed diseases in the Western world. As the disease is expected to become ever more prevalent in the future, the importance of prompt diagnosis and proper treatment options increases as well. Therefore, Elevate Health, Leiden University Medical Center and partners have developed AwareNASH: a mixed method online platform to promote awareness of NAFLD/NASH among healthcare professionals.
The online platform AwareNASH is created for healthcare professionals across specializations to increase awareness and knowledge about NAFLD, and about non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) in particular. Especially cardiovascular specialists could benefit from AwareNASH, as they often examine patients with similar comorbidities as those seen in individuals with NAFLD/NASH. The disease is characterized by build-up of fat in the liver, leading to severe inflammatory reactions. The damage this might cause can lead to irreversible scarring of liver tissue. One of the main problems with the diagnosis of NASH, is that symptoms usually do not present itself in the early stages. And even when the symptoms do start to show, they can affect multiple organs of the body. Therefore, NASH might not get identified as such when you visit a specialist.
The heterogeneous nature of the disease requires healthcare professionals from all specializations to work together, as a holistic approach appears to be crucial for early diagnosis. AwareNASH, created in close collaboration with Leiden University Medical Center, Amsterdam UMC, Julius Clinical, University Medical Center Utrecht and others, therefore stimulates healthcare professionals to look beyond their own specializations and combine forces. Whereas the interactive webinars from eight specialists in the field of NAFLD/NASH, three self-paced e-learning modules and additional case studies primarily serve to increase knowledge, the online survey assesses the specific educational needs of practicing clinicians of various medical specialties. As such, Elevate Health aims to cross professional borders and identify gaps in the existing knowledge about NAFLD/NASH.
Modules
Specialists
Individuals started the course
Elevate Health has joined forces with multiple, experienced partners to create this online platform. Such close collaboration is crucial in a cross-border project like this. With the involvement of eight specialists and five different partners, AwareNASH has grown into a solid platform that aims to close the existing gap between healthcare professionals. The initiative is made possible by an independent educational grant by Pfizer.
To introduce and establish the AwareNASH-brand, Elevate Health has created a uniform brand style that is clearly reflected on the website and social media. To increase visibility and prominence even more, Elevate Health has used display-ads, Google-campaigns and advertisements on social media.
Preliminary results already provide crucial information in order to close the knowledge gap on
NAFLD/NASH between healthcare professionals. Elevate Health therefore strives to expand
AwareNASH with these novel insights by developing an educational curriculum that will also be hosted on the online platform.
*Except for sub-Saharian Africa and Asia (WHO).
