E+DIETing_LAB project partners meet in Portugal to optimize their virtual prototypes

The partners of the Erasmus Plus project “Digital Lab for Education in Dietetics combining Experiential Learning and Community Service” (E+DIETing_LAB), led by the European University of the Atlantic (UNEATLANTICO), met on April 22 and 23 at the Universidade do Porto (Portugal) to evaluate the pilot activities of the digital tools created in the project: a virtual patient and a virtual clinic.

Together with UNEATLANTICO, the following European institutions also participate in the E+DIETing_LAB project: the University of Valladolid (UVA) in Spain, St. Pölten University in Austria, the Universidade do Porto (U.Porto) in Portugal , AP Hogeschool Antwerpen in Belgium and Jan Kochanowski University (UJK) in Poland.

VIRTUAL PATIENT

UNEATLANTICO presented the results of the pilot test of the virtual patient, a platform that integrates five different bots available in five languages. The bot teaches the nutrition and dietetics student to perform a clinical screening process in an online/interactive way. These bots provide the following cases: Gastroenterology, Diabetes mellitus type 1, cardiovascular disease and diabetes, obesity and kidney disease. Each bot has a questionnaire related to the field of nutrition, and a final survey to know the user experience.

VIRTUAL CLINIC

The E+Dieting_Lab virtual clinic is a newly launched digital lab for dietetics education. It is designed as a trainer’s tool focused on the dietetic care process as it pertains to a community dietitian.

The platform currently comprises six clinics, each representing one of the project’s six partners. Teachers, dietitians, students, and community members (patients) can register on the platform and select a specific clinic to attend.

Teachers, dietitians, and students can schedule appointment slots in one of three virtual consultation rooms. Patients can then join an available appointment slot, and the scheduled consultation is conducted via video and audio.

The clinic can be used by students with supervision by a teacher or dietitian as well as community dietitians.

The partners emphasized to continue testing both digital tools among the target audiences. During the meeting, the work plan for the third output of the project was also presented. The Multiplier Toolkit will consist of a set of documents dedicated to encourage and facilitate the use of the digital tools generated by the project.

The E+DIETing_LAB project is funded by the Spanish Service for the Internationalization of Education (SEPIE, Spanish Agency of the European Program Erasmus +). Its objective is to improve practical training in dietetic education and to promote a community/service learning approach related to nutrition and healthy habits as a social responsibility of the university.

Those interested in obtaining more information about this project can consult its website or its social networks.