Refer for Diabetes Education at Four Critical Life Junctures! New ADA standard of care
“We have algorithms for when and how to advance medication for patients with diabetes, but there has never been an algorithm for starting and advancing self-management education," said Margaret Powers, PhD, RD, CDE, Research Scientist at the International Diabetes Center at Park Nicollet and President-Elect, Health Care & Education, for the American Diabetes Association. "If you ask clinicians when should diabetes education occur, you'll get a variety of answers. We needed a clear set of guiding principles for when to provide and how to assess a patient's needs for DSME/S.”
The four critical life junctures are: 1) Upon diagnosis - a patient should begin a comprehensive program of education about the condition that they will have to manage for the rest of their life; 2) Annually - patients should have an opportunity to review their self management and learn what’s new in the field of diabetes management every year; 3) When facing change in health conditions, including physical limitations or emotional distress or challenges about basic necessities of living - patients will need more support and help with problem solving under changing or difficult circumstances; 4) When the patient transitions to a new stage of life – leaving home for college, moving from independent living to assisted or complete care, or other major life changes – it is also clear that managing diabetes must be done in a new way and there are things to learn.
Use and share these standards with your health care teams. Consider distributing the double-sided sheet that details the algorithm. Learn more about your role as a diabetes educator is in these four critical life junctures.
The DSME education algorithm was developed b y AADE, ADA, and AND to establish practice guidelines for when patients should receive diabetes education. They were published in the 2015 ADA Standards of Medical Care. Find out more http://www.diabetes.org/newsroom/press-releases/2015/joint-statement-outlines-guidance-on-diabetes-self-management-education-support.html#
Attachment Links: Algorithm 1.pdf (58 k) Algorihm 2.pdf (60 k)