Goal setting education and counseling practices of diabetes educators.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify goal setting education practices used by diabetes educators working with type 2 diabetes patients.

Methods: Data were collected by a mail questionnaire with 179 diabetes educators purposively selected from the 2008 American Association of Diabetes Educators membership listing.

Results: Many diabetes educators (52%) reported that more than 75% of their patients set goals for diabetes control. Independent factor patterns for the frequency of information collected from the patient for the first diabetes education session showed that educators either focused on patients' self-management practices (exercise and dietary practices, knowledge, and social impacts of diabetes) or issues with learning about self-management, such as understanding the patient's learning style and motivation for managing diabetes. Factor patterns overall showed diverse approaches to working with patients, including strategies used with patients struggling with dietary goals and the importance of tasks to complete during the first patient session.

Conclusion: Although most educators reported practices that were largely patient centered as promoted by the American Diabetes Association (ADA) and models of chronic disease management, patterns of practice suggest that diabetes educators vary considerably in how they apply education practices, especially with dietary self-management education.