Are you a Certified Diabetes Educator? Do you use the internet?
Hint: if you’re reading this, then the answer to both is probably yes!
If so, you may want to consider combining the two.
Today is World Diabetes Day and the internet is buzzing. Thousands of people are online discussing diabetes right now; unfortunately, diabetes educators make up only a small fraction of them. The exchanges on the Diabetes Online Community (DOC), which take place across various websites and blogs, ebb and flow like live conversation. Anyone who connects immediately has access to the elusive human element of chronic disease, not to mention extremely insightful clinical, research and industry updates.
Last month, The Atlantic covered the phenomenon from the perspective of people with diabetes, who look regularly to the DOC for resources and support. But the DOC welcomes all who have an interest in or a connection to diabetes—healthcare businesses, practitioners, nonprofits, government agencies, advocates and others. Here, new key players in the field are emerging. Here, synergistic momentum is forming…especially during Diabetes Awareness Month.
Innumerable posts, tweets, comments and blogs on diabetes-related issues go up on the web daily. Yet when it comes to the online presence of certified diabetes educators, the self-described experts on the topic at hand, we trickle in if we show up at all. Even when we do open an account, we often struggle to maximize the space we occupy on any given platform. Despite our passion and dedication to diabetes, we are largely silent in one of the most influential and far-reaching healthcare conversations of all time.
To mark Diabetes Awareness Month this year, let’s combine two skills we likely already have and embark into the DOC with our trademark spirit of entrepreneurialism. Let’s show we are committed to raising awareness, by representing our profession within diabetes-related discussions—wherever and however they happen.
Need more reasons to log on?
• It supports the AADE’s national awareness campaign (part of their three year strategic plan). Awareness precedes funding and advocacy.
• Networking opportunities abound! You can often have an easier time accessing individuals through their social media accounts.
• Plugging in helps you stay up to date with the latest topics, trends, and research. Contribute to and learn from the online conversations being had about your field.
• An increased online presence will assert CDEs as the experts across all forms of media.
• Social media skills have standalone value and can lead to other career opportunities.
• An online platform can vitalize relationships with existing community partnerships and can encourage new ones.
• It’s free. It’s portable. It’s always open. It’s always active.
If you would like more information on getting started or making the most out of social media, write us at ArizonaAADE@gmail.com.
Follow us on Twitter @ArizonaAADE or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/AZdiabeteseducators.