Celiac disease mentors conference in Maribor

“Mentoring newly diagnosed celiac disease patients – mentors conference« in the frame of our pilot activity took place on Saturday, 24. November in Hotel Maribor.

During the conference the 15 attending mentors were able to improve their knowledge, share their experiences, and get support in developing high-quality service for new patients.

The conference entailed many talks and lectures, among which were a Lecture by Nada Polajžer, who talked about self-respect and self-esteem of patients with a chronic disease. Lead partner representative presented the project results. Jernej Dolinšek explained the importance of HCPs knowledge and talked about diagnostic guidelines as well as problems that can arise with lack of this knowledge. New relevant scientific information from this field was presented.

Živa Kuliš talked about supplements and things we should know before purchasing them. She especially focused on probiotics as patients seek them very often and it is therefore crucial for mentors to have knowledge of them.

Anja Prislan presented the draft idea of our comprehensive patient centered celiac disease management model, which was followed by the discussion with mentors who were asked for comments on the model.

We also organized a workshop, led by Aja Mijatov, with a basic idea of exchanging experiences, opinions, comments, problems and suggestions among mentors. It included preparing a supporting monitoring document that will be designed right after the layout is confirmed by mentors, who will actively cooperate in the process.

All in all, the service proved itself to be very useful and mentoring is spreading in other parts of Slovenia as well.

Our hopes are that Slovenian Celiac Association will keep using the service even after the project is finished.

Many thanks to chef Mišo Krojsl (Rožmarin restaurant), who prepared a delicious gluten-free lunch for all participants.