Funding approved
In 2000, the Association made a commitment to strengthen efforts to inform health care providers about the diagnosis and basic management of chronic fatigue and immune dysfunction syndrome (CFIDS). In partnership with another nonprofit organization and two federal agencies, these activities are now getting underway.

On Oct. 1, 2000, a grant proposal and funding from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) was officially approved for a primary care provider education project. The project is intended to help health care professionals recognize CFIDS, identify clinical decision-making diagnostic strategies, consider the various approaches to short-and long-term management of CFIDS, and understand the possible etiologies of the illness.

A medical teaching curriculum for CFIDS that covers medical history, physical exams, and using psychosocial data when forming a CFIDS diagnosis has been developed by a group of nationally recognized CFIDS experts. The curriculum stresses treatment and management strategies to improve CFIDS symptoms and help patients be as functional as possible.

Several curriculum formats are being developed, including live lecture presentations, a web-based self-study module, and videos, and will be available in the near future.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will provide continuing education credits for the course.

Committee confirmed
The Advisory Committee was formed in November 2000 to guide and oversee the development and application of the curriculum and help educate health care providers.

Committee members include: Julie Barroso, PhD, ANP, DS, Assistant Professor, School of Nursing, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Kristine Healy, PA-C, Physician Assistant and Instruc-tor, Midwestern University, Chicago; Leonard Jason, PhD, and Professor of Psychology, De Paul University, Chicago; and Charles Lapp, MD, Inter-nal Medicine and Pediatrics, CFIDS specialist, Hunter-Hopkins Center, Charlotte, NC. 

The Committee met for the first time in Chicago December 14-15. 

Traveling display
Plans are underway to attend and exhibit at national and regional conferences for internal medicine physicians, physician assistants, and advanced practice nurses. A large exhibit to be used at provider conferences has been completed and features photos of people with CFIDS along with diagnosis and management tips for providers. The display made its debut at the AACFS conference in Seattle, Jan. 26-30.

Training the trainers
This January the process of selecting 50 “core” curriculum trainers from seven states began. These professionals will complete a two-day training session on curriculum content, then return to their home states to present two one- to two-hour programs to providers in their local areas before October 2001.

This train-the-trainer format will allow for a broad dissem-ination of CFIDS information to the medical community and provide a method to ensure accurate distribution of CFIDS facts. It will also facilitate evaluation to ensure that educational efforts result in improved care for CFIDS patients.

Core trainers will be health care practitioners who have demonstrated an interest, but not necessarily expertise, in CFIDS. The master trainer for the core training is Dr. Charles Lapp.

Training sessions will be held this spring.

The health care provider education project on CFIDS is administered by The CFIDS Association of America and the Illinois Area Health Education Center Program under a grant from HRSA and the CDC.