After bundling up in multiple layers of clothes and adjusting to the extreme cold temperatures, I was fortunate to have met great leaders and diabetes educators across the nation at the 2015 AADE Leadership Conference in Chicago, IL. As a non-CDE, I am a firm supporter and strong advocate for diabetes education and I appreciate all the hard work CDEs employ. In our current jobs we often get posed with the question, what type of leader are you? As simple as this question may be, many of us ponder our answer. The 2015 AADE Leadership Conference equipped us with numerous strategies on how to become better leaders, while learning to engage others to volunteer and enhance our current work within our practices and community-based organizations. Speaker Laurie Guest, CSP simply stated that we must adapt to change; and although that may increase our stress levels similar to a traffic light (red, yellow, or green), we must identify items that cause dwelling (red), diversion (yellow), or action (green) to our goals as leaders and educators. Whether we are board members or LNG and COI leaders, we must understand how vital our work is to give voice and empower other healthcare professionals to deliver optimal and exceptional diabetes education. This day and a half conference allowed me to explore best practices from other states and further comprehend the challenges and successes for the delivery of diabetes education and management. For example, the topic of licensure for CDEs was of upmost importance for many educators. Both Kentucky and Indiana have legislations in place that licenses CDEs, which further facilitates the reimbursement and legal standing recognition at the national level by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). The national AADE policy and advocacy team have developed a licensure summary and other briefs to guide diabetes educators on this initiative (http://www.diabeteseducator.org/PolicyAdvocacy/State_Legislation.html). Licensure of CDEs varies from state to state and this is a vital piece of information that warrants attention amongst our greater diabetes stakeholders of the Arizona Diabetes Coalition and AZAADE.
To give closure to my humbling experience at the 2015 AADE Leadership conference, I was given the opportunity to bond with other AADE leaders from Arizona and understand the alignment of the AADE strategic goals and priorities with those of the state of Arizona. As the Affordable Care Act unveils and federal funding for diabetes prevention and self-management programs become available, the demand for CDEs and diabetes education and support is greater than ever. The healthcare landscape is constantly changing and as leaders in our community we must adapt to this change and empower patients with diabetes to take charge of their health and improve outcomes. English naturalist and geologist, Charles Darwin stated, “It is not the strongest of species that survive, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is most adaptable to change.”
Omar A. Contreras, MPH
AZ Coordinating Body- Chair Elect