Diabetes Distress/Burnout
Scare tactics. Non-compliance labels. For decades diabetes educators have known that the approach suggested by these thoughts are a fast way to get no where in approaching support and education in the care of diabetes. Trained to meet the person where they are, diabetes educators practice the core education principle of healthy coping to support and promote behavior changes in patients. In fact, it is the unique outcome measurement of DSME, as designed well over a decade ago in development of the AADE Standards for Outcomes Measurements of DSME.
It is not only good but standard practice that educators and DSME programs have a definitive process for assuring their validation in care of patients with diabetes. However, some of the unique psychological and behavioral education approaches needed to improve outcomes can offer the greatest challenge in healthcare.
Sometimes called diabetes burnout, diabetes distress manifests in as many different ways as there are individuals affected by it. Defined as patient concerns about disease management, support, emotional burden, and access to care, it should not be confused with depression. And sometimes it is the diabetes educator and the unique perspective that DSME offers that identifies not just the fact that distress is occurring, but also how to address it to the entire care team.
Helping a patient recognize their distress is a first step, and guiding them to understand that the problems posed by managing diabetes are surmountable, especially with support from DSME and the care team. Assessment and evaluation of areas of education concern to the patient, as well as suggesting steps to take to overcome distress are the next. A resource used to support this can be found in the resource link : http://www.annfammed.org/content/6/3/246.full.pdf
If currently using the Diabetes Distress Screening and Scale surveys with your patients, please comment to suggest support for its integration or offer suggestions for use beyond this resource. If this is a new topic, a direct link the patient survey is also available at: http://www.diabetesed.net/page/_files/diabetes-distress.pdf.
More support for this topic can also be found at myaade Behavioral/Mental Health Practice Area Discussions.