I just saw a 73 year old woman on an insulin pump. I have known her for 15+ years and got her started on a pump all those years ago. Most recently she is forgetting to bolus, she is forgetting to check her blood sugar; she pushed her basal rate up by 1 unit per hour because she didn’t like her blood sugars, when she came in her reservoir was out of insulin but she didn’t realize it (despite alarms). She lives with her daughter but is not with her daughter all of the time.
Why am I telling you this? This woman and many other patients weigh so heavily on my mind. As our pumpers are aging I am seeing many more mistakes with insulin delivery. I once had a man who would take boluses of 20 to 25 units when his usual bolus had been 5 to 6 units (we set the max bolus for 6 but he was smart enough to know how to take multiple boluses).
Kathy Stroh, MS, RD, CDE, LDN and Linda Gottfredson, PhD will be addressing the cognitive and functional burden of diabetes on older adults at our annual state meeting and I can’t wait to hear what they have to say! Not only will they explain the physiological changes that occur in this population but they will also be offering us some hands on ideas for effective educational strategies and materials. This is something we can all use as our population ages and people with diabetes live longer.
This is one of many presentations that will offer hands on skills for our day to day practice. Here is the link to registration; hope to see you in Harrisburg!
Click here to register:
http://www.myaadenetwork.org/p/cm/ld/fid=3132
Cheryl Marco, RD, CDE