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Does Advocacy Light Your Fire? If so, Why? If not, You Can Learn!! by Jane R. Pinkerton, BSN, RN-CDE

In the June 2014 AADE My Network SC Blog article you were encouraged to consider "Advocacy - a Vital Role" for each diabetes educator. The Webster's definition of Advocate remains the same --"one who pleads for another." The article asked you to give voice for the legislation proposed in Congress and supported by AADE. Moving forward our new SCco-leaders for advocacy are Annie Littlejohn, BSN, RN, CDE with Medical Group of the Carolinas and Roxanne Singer-Gheorghiu, MSN, AGNP-C, CDE, CCRC of  BG Neurology. These educators will be in touch prior to the AADE 2015 Public Policy Forum June 15-16 in Washington, DC. Watch for more!! In the meantime, I ask you to define what advocacy means to you and those in your care as a diabetes educator.

At a recent AADE SC Leadership meeting, we reflected on the roots of advocacy. How does one become an advocate? Is it rooted only in who we are and how we were reared or is it a learning process?(1)   During our discussion we quickly identified how, for many of us, our childhood experiences gave roots to our professional practice. For me - that was neighborhood play. Boys & girls in the 1950s gathered in backyards daily. As we did so, whether it was playing cowboys & Indians, soldiers in battle, baseball practice, or racing wagons downhill, I gravitated to the "first aid" corner. But sitting in the "Fort" was not enough of the action-­ Grabbing the bag and running to those injured seemed more practical, more connected!! It was somehow more like watching my Mom as she visited an ill neighbor or a "shut-in." Taking an active role vs. being passive remains important to me to this day!!

For some, the willingness to advocate comes from watching others in professional life.

Who have been your mentors, role models, or preceptors? What did you learn from them that helps you give voice for those in need? Joining AADE in the 1970s introduced me to The 

Diabetes Educator. One professional touched me deeply with her insight and willingness to speak---to advocate! Let me introduce you to Dorothea Sims who at the time of writing for the 1977-78 winter issue was Vice-President, Vermont Diabetes Association & member of the ADA Committee on Public Education. Her article, "Please Don't Tell Me What to Do Unless You Tell Me Why, " was written from the personal perspective of living with Type 1Diabetes since 1955. Though the article pages have yellowed, her words still resonate today. As an advocate she challenged each educator to consider----

"What is diabetes to the individual who lives with it? . . .

• Help me count my assets. Almost everyone has some in hopes, talents, family,  and health other than that of beta cells . . .
  • Help me to master my own fate and please don't call me a patient unless I'm sick . . .
• Teach me in the presence of my family. This will reduce our collective anxiety, define our responsibilities and lower chances for using diabetes to manipulate human relationships.
• Make me an equal partner (or captain) of my health care team. That means sharing your power with me, your knowledge, and also the times when you don't know the answers. Everyone today knows that no one knows all the answers to everything. So, I will  respect  and trust you  most if you  do not tell me what to do unless you tell  me why . . .
• Make my return visit a time to look forward to. Help me identify and celebrate success in self-management, however small. Encourage my ingenuity, my patience, my sense of humor . . .
  • Direct me to ways of going on learning all my life and encourage me, as I gain competence, to use my skills to help educating the public and in peer support.
  • Use your unique contact with me and my family, and therefore with the defined, high­risk population, for detection and prevention. A large percentage of diabetes today could undoubtedly be postponed, prevented altogether or put in the background if we could return to good habits of nutrition and physical activity which make the most of the way our bodies were designed to function. Perhaps the costs of health care could be reduced by this approach." (2)

While not every educator has deep childhood roots related to advocacy, learning does occur as we watch others as role models, mentors, or preceptors. The reality for many educators is that advocacy is too often an "assumed" role vs one incorporated in curriculum. Therefore, it is vitally important that we reach out to learn more from others. (1)                                                                                            

So, who have been your role models, mentors, or preceptors for advocacy? Reach out and share a big "Thank You" with them. Then remember, Dorothea's words about life-long learning and seek additional caring relationships through AADE advocacy.

Check out the "policy and advocacy" tab on the website www.diabeteseducator.org to learn how to share your voice! Sharing your experiences as a diabetes educator with local, state, and federal government will move forward important diabetes initiatives!!