Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), including Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, are immune-mediated disorders of the gastrointestinal tract. This chronic illness can be diagnosed at any age but often afflicts young adults. Psychosocial and lifestyle factors impact clinical outcomes and quality of life but are currently inconsistently addressed due to lack of resources.
With the support of the Alberta Innovates PRIHS 7 grant funding and in collaboration with the Digestive Health Strategic Clinical Network (DHSCN), we have developed two pathways for practitioners and patients in Alberta – one for IBD & Nutrition and one for IBD & Mental Health. The goals of the pathways are to incorporate routine screening for malnutrition and mental health in IBD care to identify those at risk and requiring further intervention in addition to providing self-management tools and resources to all patients. The provider pathways outline the use of nutrition and mental health screening questionnaires and provide recommendations for tools and resources that may help when counselling patients regarding the management of their diet or mental health. The accompanying patient pathways provide patients with similar resources and tools and to allow them to manage their diet and mental health on a day-to-day basis.
The practitioner and their accompanying patient pathways are live and can be accessed on the Primary Care Supports | Alberta Health Services under the heading of Digital Health Tools for Patients with IBD.
