Welcome Arizona AADE members. 2011 looks to be an exciting year of new opportunities for diabetes educators who are AADE members.
Let me introduce myself and share with you all why I think AADE has a lot to offer us in 2011. I am Marcia Larson, RD, CDE, Dietitian; Mayo Clinic, Scottsdale AZ. I have been an active member of CAADE (Central Arizona Association of Diabetes Educators) for the past 3 years. I am the new leader of the AZ Coordinating Body (CB) and will coordinate Arizona AADE events and functions in 2011.
Maybe you’ve heard that AADE has enacted some exciting new changes. Starting in 2011, all members will now pay one fee for their annual AADE membership. Part of that fee is automatically sent to the member’s state for use by that state. Each state will have a CB (coordinating body) that directs statewide educational activities and oversees the distribution of state’s funds. The CB is a liaison for all communication between the national AADE and their state’s members. The Coordinating Body consists of a leader, web page coordinator, finance coordinator and education coordinator.
The Arizona Coordinating Body members are:
Leader: Marcia Larson, RD CDE
Web page Coordinator: Karen Beer, PAC, RD, CDE, CNSD
Finance Coordinator: Susan Welter, RD CDE
Education Coordinator: Joyce Logvin, RD, CDE
Under each state’s CB are Local Networking Groups (LNG’s). These groups meet (usually because of location) to network and provide education to their members and persons with diabetes in their area.
Currently in Arizona, the only active LNG is CAADE (Central AZ Association of Diabetes Educators) located in the Phoenix valley.
Arizona’s AADE membership fund is for ALL AADE members in Arizona. It is my dream that ALL Arizona AADE members will take advantage of the money available to educate their specific area’s members and serve their diabetes population. To do that, I would like to see northern and southern Arizona initiate separate LNG’s. If you are interested in forming a LNG, no matter how big or small, please contact me through my email. Our state CB can help you through every step of forming the LNG. The new national AADE guidelines for LNG’s do not require formal by-laws and board members. Instead, AADE wants to simplify the leadership responsibilities of the LNG with a planning group that consists of a leader, finance and educational coordinator.
I hope you will become active in planning your state and local networking group’s educational activities. When you become involved, YOU get a say in how we spend your money. As the leader of Arizona’s CB, one of my personal goals is to provide education to all of our members when it is most convenient. Towards that effort, we will be changing our educational programs and general meetings in 2012 to quarterly Saturday sessions with timely diabetes topics and free CEU’s. In order for this to occur, we will need the input from all members. I hope that by having additional northern Arizona and southern Arizona Local Networking Groups, we can rotate sessions through different locales: one or two in the Phoenix valley, one in northern AZ and one in southern AZ. To hear everyone’s voice, we will need your input. Putting together a four hour educational seminar with a general meeting and luncheon, takes a multitude of tasks – big and small. I encourage and welcome you to become a part of that process no matter how much you can offer or for how long a time commitment. Please consider joining our regularly scheduled planning meetings. You can also contact me personally by email of your intentions to help find out more about how you can become involved. Even if you are unable to make the meetings, I would love to hear your ideas and offers to help.
How do you find out about all of this as well as learn more about the AADE and what it has to offer? It is all on the new My AADE Network found on our AADE website. Here’s how to navigate to Arizona’s AADE webpage:
1: www.diabeteseducator.org
2: Sign in with your AADE member number and personal password.
3: Click on My AADE Network – I am a member
4: Click on My State Network
On this page you can find:
1: Notices for all meetings and upcoming events
2: Links to other organizations and diabetes resources available for downloading
3: Connections to the available local networking groups where you can participate in discussion topics and get advice on program development and/or get questions answered regarding patient care issues
4: Look up other AZ AADE members as well as members from other states
5: View your own profile and update your personal information.
Let’s make 2011 a great year for Arizona AADE members! I want to hear from you on how our Coordinating Body (CB) can help meet your local area’s needs. I would love to see you become a part of your area’s Local Networking Group or help to form a new group.
Get involved! It is the only way your money will really work to provide the services you deserve.
Marcia Larson, RD CDE
Arizona Coordinating Body (CB) Leader
mldietrx@gmail.com