Consistent with its mandate to promote the use of research evidence to inform practice, CHRC has developed clinical guidelines for the management of the conditions of greatest public health importance in the Caribbean. These protocols are based on international best practice but are fashioned to take the culture, economic situation and health systems in the Caribbean into account.

• Managing Diabetes in Primary Care in the Caribbean comprises management guidelines based on current knowledge and best practice. It is hoped that these guidelines would be systematically applied and thus lead to improved care and outcomes in persons with diabetes in the Caribbean. These guidelines were developed in collaboration with the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO).
• Pocket Edition of the CHRC/PAHO Clinical Guidelines for Managing Diabetes in Primary Care in the Caribbean is a streamlined and updated version of the Diabetes Guidelines. It comprises eight folded panels and is designed to be very user-friendly in the clinical settings. The development of the pocket guidelines was a successful partnership between CHRC and the Trinidad and Tobago Health Sciences Initiative (TTHSI), working in collaboration with Johns Hopkins Medicine. There is also an accompanying video that presents an overview of the Guidelines.
• Managing Hypertension in Primary Care in the Caribbean provides a straightforward approach to the diagnosis as well as the management of hypertension at the primary care level. It stresses the importance of non-drug or lifestyle management as a necessary prerequisite and the need to educate patients, families and the community. It also offers the scope to rationalize and standardize management providing evidence-based recommendations as far as possible. It is envisioned that these guidelines will be applied systematically and thus lead to improved care and outcomes in persons with hypertension in the Caribbean. These guidelines were developed in collaboration with PAHO.
• Managing Asthma in the Caribbean was developed to improve the care provided for patients with asthma. This would be accomplished through improved diagnostic and monitoring skills; better and more appropriate use of available medications to alleviate symptoms and control the condition over the long term; and involving the patient and his/her family in managing and preventing the condition. These guidelines were developed in collaboration with the University of the West Indies (UWI).
• Managing Depression in Primary Care in the Caribbean was developed to improve the management of patients with depression who present to primary care practitioners. This is to be accomplished through improved diagnostic and monitoring skills; better and more appropriate use of available medications to alleviate symptoms and control the condition over the long term; and involving the patient and his/her family in managing and preventing the condition. These guidelines are especially important since depression in a primary care setting seldom presents with the classic symptoms of the psychiatrically depressed patient.
• Maternal Care in Pregnancy – Guidelines for the Caribbean: Currently being developed in collaboration with the UWI. Scheduled to be launched in January 2012.

All Publications are available at:
Caribbean Health Research Council
25A Warner Street, St. Augustine
Trinidad & Tobago
Tel: (868) 645-7421/3769
FAX: (868) 645-0705
Email: chrc@chrc-caribbean.org