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.

Data Sources: Scientific literature review, Pub Med, EBP websites and other online literature databases and resources.

Limitations: This is not a systematic literature review or meta-analysis of diabetes education.

Conclusion: Because diabetes is a complex condition reaching pandemic proportions, which requires self-management of the chronic disease on a daily basis, the future of DSME faces challenges in the current fee for service environment. The National Standards for Diabetes self-management education and support and the American Association of Diabetes Educators Practice Guidelines offers new concepts for meeting the future demand of diabetes educators and education.