Developing a Controlled Vocabulary for Education as a Health Care Intervention

Self-management of chronic disease is a responsibility of the individual who has the disease. Education about the treatments, monitoring, and other activities are key to the successful self-care and effective quality of life. Education about chronic disease occurs in multiple settings, is provided by various healthcare providers, and is delivered by many different methods. This project describes two approaches that used the UMLS and MEDLINE to develop a controlled vocabulary of education as an intervention. A test vocabulary of diabetes education programs was initiated and proof-of-concept was demonstrated.