The new trend in diabetes education is 'pattern
management'. This means that patients are taught to look for
patterns in their lives and adjust their meals, activity and
medication to achieve the best blood glucose levels possible.
In North America, where many patients have access to blood glucose
meters, pattern management is usually based on test results.
Patients are encouraged to test, to interpret the results and
make adjustments to plans.
Diabetes educators are moving from telling the person with
diabetes what to do to a more collaborative model where the
individual decides what he or she wants to do. The educator
responds by helping the person with diabetes to discover if
the chosen activities allow him or her to maintain target
blood glucose levels.
Education can be provided in small group discussions, as
one to one counselling or as a combination of both. The preferences
vary from region to region. There is a presumption that where
money is short, it is more cost effective to educate patients
in groups than individually. Families are always encouraged
to attend and to provide support for the person with diabetes.
Next |
