Diabetes education: looking through the kaleidoscope.

Background: Diabetes self-management education (DSME) is a critical element of care for all people with diabetes and those at risk for developing diabetes. In spite of growing evidence of the value of DSME in reducing hospitalization costs, improvement in glucose, weight and medication adherence, DSME remains an underutilized insurance benefit and access to qualified diabetes educators is problematic.

Purpose: This paper reviews the current challenges, principles and evidence of DSME, importance of integration of diabetes education with clinical care, and the future of diabetes educators and education in the emerging health care delivery models.

Development of the American Association of Diabetes Educators' Diabetes Self-management Assessment Report Tool.

Purpose: The purpose of this article is to describe the development and testing of a new tool for collecting patient information for diabetes self-management education (DSME): the Diabetes Self-management Assessment Report Tool (D-SMART). The D-SMART was designed through expert panel consensus based on a hybrid conceptual framework and is intended to serve multiple functions at the level of the patient, the program, and the field.

Methods: The D-SMART has completed 3 rounds of pilot testing and is currently undergoing a fourth round, with each round resulting in revisions to the original instrument.

Evolution of the American Association of Diabetes Educators' diabetes education outcomes project.

Purpose: This is the initial article in a series that describes a multiyear project of a professional membership organization to define, standardize, collect, and report the outcomes of diabetes self-management education. The purpose of this article is to describe and summarize the contributions of each phase of the project: determining a conceptual framework, developing and testing measurement instruments, defining outcome standards for diabetes self-management education, and implementing a technology approach to capturing the outcomes.

Methods: Association archives, project participants, presentation slides, and published articles provide the historical information that is presented in this article.

Microvascular complications of diabetes.

The microvascular complications of diabetes are serious, and can be life threatening. They involve injury to the blood vessels in the retina, kidney, nervous system, gingiva, and skin. Controlling the risk factors for microvascular complications involves controlling glucose level, blood pressure, and lipids, along with healthy lifestyle changes.