In spite of the strides that have been made in the treatment of diabetes, many patients do not achieve optimal outcomes and still experience devastating complications that result in a decreased length and quality of life. One of the struggles for people with diabetes and health care professionals is how to effectively facilitate sustained self-management in the clinic and beyond community throughout a lifetime of diabetes.
It is now widely recognized that regardless of the setting, education alone is not adequate nor is focusing on behavior change as the primary desired outcome. The individual patient’s personal priorities, goals, desires, feelings and values must be integrated throughout the entire educational and clinical process in order to help patients incorporate diabetes self-management into their lives.
There is also greater recognition that patients need on-going diabetes self-management support in order to sustain the improvements made during diabetes education. Along with health care professionals, family members, peers and the larger community have a significant role to play in improving outcomes and reducing the burden of diabetes on individuals, family members, the health care system and society.
This presentation will describe the shift from compliance to collaboration and provide practical strategies for implementing a person-centered approach to diabetes care, education and on-going support for effective self-management from the clinic to the community.
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