[Diabetes-talk] What can we do?

[Ann Williams]

A while ago, Eileen Scrivani wrote:

"I understand that people who are blind are on limited incomes and may 
not be able to afford to pay for a subscription to the Voice, but what 
about Doctor's, hospital's & other medical professionals? Certainly, 
they can afford to pay a subscription fee."  There sere several 
follow-up posts affirming that several people on this list thought this 
was a good idea.

 From my perspective as a health professional, I don't think this is a 
workable way to raise money for The Voice of the Diabetic.  Let me 
explain why.  The copies that go to hospitals and doctors' offices are 
not used for their own reading.  They are for the professionals to give 
to their patients.  This is the norm in diabetes patient publications.  
All the diabetes publications intended for patients make free copies 
available for professionals to give away, either by sending copies to 
them, or, increasingly, by sending a card good for a free copy for 
professionals to give away.  So professionals are unlikely to pay for 
subscriptions to give to their patients.

It's true that many professionals could benefit from reading the Voice 
to learn how their patients actually do the things they recommend.  When 
I teach other professionals, I often recommend that they read patient 
publications for exactly that reason.

However, in the day of a busy diabetes educator or physician, reading 
time is at a premium, and lots of professionals find it hard to find 
time for even the reading of professional journals that is necessary to 
keep up in one's field.  Reading a patient publication ends up low on 
many professional priority lists.  So even though they can afford a 
subscription for themselves, they would probably not pay for something 
they are not even sure to have time to read.

I do hope that there is a way the Voice can survive somehow, but I think 
that paid subscriptions for professionals is not going to be it.

Ann Williams, PhD, RN, CDE