Project summary
Informal sessions, presented by a team of healthcare professionals and patients with established diabetes, give newly-diagnosed patients the opportunity to extend their knowledge and dispel any myths they have about their condition.
Project Dates
Start Date: 01/08/2005
End Date: 30/06/2006
Location of project
Ayrshire and Arran
Area of healthcare
Community care, Primary care
Target groups
All persons newly diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes (GP’s requested to check group to be invited to remove any persons who they do not wish to attend)
Guidelines followed
Scottish Diabetes Framework
NHS Quality Improvement Scotland standards
SIGN Guideline 55: Management of Diabetes
Approaches used
Managed Clinical Network (MCN): Patient Education Group, MCN Patient Reference Group, MCN Executive/Steering Groups, Surveys
Aims and objectives
Equity of access to a structured education session.
Increase patient knowledge and understanding of diabetes.
Facilitate development of patients knowledge, skills and confidence to enable them to make informed choices regarding their diabetes.
What we did
The sessions are based on an agreed programme, using agreed standardised core presentations. The sessions are informal and give patients the opportunity to extend their knowledge or to dispel any myths they have about their condition.
The sessions are delivered by a multi-disciplinary team of healthcare professionals (e.g. Dietetics, Podiatry, Optometry and Nursing) and also input by patients with established diabetes, who provide peer support.
The presentations also include time for a question and answer session.
Training undertaken
We held a local "Train the Trainer" session for the presenters of the sessions.
Evaluation
Feedback surveys were issued to both the patients and those who had presented the sessions.
Plans for the future
This work is ongoing and the Managed Clinical Network Patient Education Group continues to explore opportunities to extend the provision of structured diabetes education to other patient groups.