[Diabetes-talk] FW: [acb-diabetics] diabetes educators have your number

[Mike Freeman]

From: acb-diabetics-bounces at acb.org [mailto:acb-diabetics-bounces at acb.org]
On Behalf Of Patricia LaFrance-Wolf
Sent: Tuesday, September 06, 2011 6:47 PM
To: Acb-Diabetics at Acb. Org
Subject: [acb-diabetics] diabetes educators have your number

 


When It Comes to Diabetes, Knowledge Truly Is Power


President, American Association of Diabetes Educators

Donna Tomky, MSN, RN, C-NP, CDE, FAADE
Sep 3, 2011 

When people are diagnosed with diabetes <http://www.diabeteshealth.com/> ,
things can seem pretty overwhelming. In a short time, they have to absorb a
daunting amount of information and start making significant decisions about
the way they live their lives.

For many people, their diabetes diagnosis is the first time they've heard
words like hypoglycemia
<http://www.diabeteshealth.com/browse/complications-and-care/low-blood-sugar
/> , neuropathy
<http://www.diabeteshealth.com/browse/complications-and-care/nerve-care-neur
opathy/> , and microalbuminuria-or even blood glucose. Despite their
unfamiliarity with such terms, they are expected to quickly grasp the
information, change ingrained eating and exercise
<http://www.diabeteshealth.com/browse/fitness/exercise/>  habits, learn how
to monitor blood glucose levels, and remember how and when to take
medications.

Yet another concept with which patients may be unfamiliar is the field of
diabetes education. Many nurses, dietitians, pharmacists, and others are
certified as diabetes educators, with specific training in teaching people
how to manage their condition. Diabetes education is a proven, effective way
to help people avoid some of the serious complications that may arise.

Diabetes is a complex disease that requires daily self-management. Most of
that work takes place outside of the physician's office-in the daily lives
of the patients. So it's necessary for patients to learn healthy behaviors
and make them part of their everyday lifestyle. But how do they do this?

Diabetes educators focus on seven key areas of diabetes self-management,
developed by the American Association of Diabetes Educators and called the
AADE7 Self-Care BehaviorsTM. It's important for patients to understand and
set goals for improvement in each of the following areas:

Healthy Eating - Learning to make healthy food choices by paying attention
to nutritional content and portion sizes
Being Active - Recognizing the importance of physical activity and making a
plan to start moving today
Monitoring - Learning to check, record, and understand blood glucose levels
and other numbers important to diabetes self-care
Taking Medication - Remembering to take medications as prescribed and
understanding how they affect the body and diabetes management
Problem Solving - Gaining skills to identify problems or obstacles to
self-care behaviors and learning how to solve them
Reducing Risks - Understanding the potential complications associated with
diabetes and taking steps to prevent developing them
Healthy Coping - Developing healthy ways of dealing with challenges and
difficult situations related to diabetes

Patients and diabetes educators can work together to create a plan for
approaching these self-care behaviors and implementing them in the patient's
life.

For someone who is newly diagnosed, Medicare and most private insurance
companies cover 10 hours of diabetes self-management training. Every year
after that, patients are entitled to two hours of diabetes self-management
training. AADE recommends that patients ask their doctors for a referral to
a diabetes educator. Diabetes educators can also be found at
www.diabeteseducator.org/find.

  _____  

Categories:American Association of Diabetes Educators (AADE)
<http://www.diabeteshealth.com/browse/community/american-association-of-diab
etes-educators-aade/> , Blood Glucose
<http://www.diabeteshealth.com/browse/complications-and-care/blood-glucose/>
, Diabetes <http://www.diabeteshealth.com/browse/community/diabetes/> ,
Diagnosis <http://www.diabeteshealth.com/browse/health-care/diagnosis/> ,
Glucose
<http://www.diabeteshealth.com/browse/complications-and-care/glucose/> ,
Hypoglycemia
<http://www.diabeteshealth.com/browse/complications-and-care/hypoglycemia/>
, Medications <http://www.diabeteshealth.com/browse/medications/> ,
Monitoring <http://www.diabeteshealth.com/browse/monitoring/> , Nerve Care
(Neuropathy)
<http://www.diabeteshealth.com/browse/complications-and-care/nerve-care-neur
opathy/> 

  _____  

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<https://www.diabeteshealth.com/read/2009/02/10/6087/you-can-help-support-di
abetes-health/> Description: Donate to Diabetes Health

 

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