The role of Diabetes UK: education through information

Journal of Diabetes Nursing, Feb, 2005 by Simon O'Neill

Introduction

Diabetes UK is the leading UK-based charity for people with diabetes. In addition to funding research and campaigning, Diabetes UK aims to help people with diabetes to live with the condition. Through the provision of information for people with diabetes and healthcare professionals alike, Diabetes UK is a key part in the life-long educational process that must be in place for successful diabetes management. Responding to research and the changing needs and numbers of people with diabetes--children, adolescents, adults and the elderly--are among its top priorities.

Living with diabetes is a life-long learning process for the individual. Information and education are key from the point of diagnosis, when everything is new, strange and often frightening, through the daily juggling act to maintain good control, to the challenges of complications. Fortunately this was recognised in the National Service Framework for diabetes, standard 3 (Department of Health, 2001) which states that:

 '... people with diabetes need the knowledge, skills and motivation to
 assess their risks, to understand what they will gain from changing
 their behaviour or lifestyle and to act on that understanding by
 engaging in appropriate behaviours.'

Knowledge and skill for people with diabetes

How do people with diabetes gain that essential knowledge and skill? Most comes from their healthcare providers, especially their nurses, both through formal education initiatives and through personal consultation with the healthcare team. However, people also seek information from other sources:

* the internet (with its many potential pitfalls)

* friends and neighbours (who may fill in the blanks with their own interpretations)

* other people with diabetes (who can provide a tremendous amount of support)

* the media--magazines, newspapers and television

* Diabetes UK.

Diabetes UK

Our vision

Part of Diabetes UK's vision is to provide the highest quality of care and information for all and to achieve a universal understanding of diabetes and of Diabetes UK. For this reason we produce information for both healthcare professionals and people living with diabetes in many formats, including our regular magazines, Balance and Diabetes Update, and our website (www.diabetes.org.uk), which receives about 750 000 hits a month.

Education

It is not in the remit of Diabetes UK to provide education, although we do support research into educational initiatives such as DAFNE (Dose Adjustment For Normal Eating; DAFNE study group, 2002) and DESMOND (Diabetes Education and Self-Management for Ongoing and Newly Diagnosed; Department of Health, 2004). It is within our remit, however, to support those who provide education, whether through initiatives such as the Diabetes, Diagnosis and Discussion initiative, a peer support programme for people with diabetes that is being piloted by Diabetes UK, or by providing information to healthcare professionals to facilitate the educational process.

The weight management pack

An example of the facilitation of the educational process by providing information to healthcare professionals is the weight management pack that was recently published by Diabetes UK (see Figure 1). This pack consists of several documents that can be downloaded as PDFs from our website at www.diabetes.org.uk/catalogue/education.htm (accessed 17.02.05). The pack includes patient information in the form of a leaflet 'Weight creeping up on you? Diabetes and weight management'. It also includes a booklet called 'Weight management: managing diabetes in primary care', aimed at practice nurses, covering issues around weight loss, such as assessing and motivating patients as well as the treatment options available.

[FIGURE 1 OMITTED]

Information

Diabetes UK's information is seen as the gold standard by many healthcare professionals and we take its production very seriously. Although most information resources are initially produced internally by our healthcare professional staff, throughout the process we consult with a wide range of healthcare professionals (especially those from our Professional Advisory Committee) as well as people with diabetes.

We ensure that we use the most up-to-date research and care recommendations, and, when there is a lack of evidence, our strong links with healthcare professionals from all backgrounds and disciplines enable us to reach a consensus to help us shape our information. We also ensure that our information is tailored to the needs of the various groups of people with diabetes: the young, their families, the newly diagnosed no matter what their treatment, the visually impaired and those whose first language is not English, for example. It is also important that we translate complex research findings into accessible information and continue to develop new materials as new needs develop, an example being information for children with type 2 diabetes. We also try to update our information resources regularly and welcome any feedback to allow us to achieve this and to ensure that the information we provide is in the most appropriate format and meets the needs of our members. Comments can be sent to care.advisor@diabetes.org.uk.