April 1, 2016

Change Champions Take On Emerging Roles, Plus a Sneak Peek at AADE16

AADE Change ChampionsPlease enjoy my March-April AADE President's Letter:

Happy spring – my favorite time of year! I hope you’ve taken time to review AADE’s new and ambitious 2016 – 2018 strategic plan. If not, please give the plan a read on AADE’s website at diabeteseducator.org/strategicplan.

As I noted in my January president’s letter I’ll use these letters throughout the year to familiarize you with six key strategies and outcomes in our strategic plan. In this letter I’ll focus on the strategy: Design resources to address the emerging roles and practice of diabetes education and management across all practice levels. As a way to shine the light on you, our AADE members, I'll profile Change Champions and highlight fourChange Champions at AADE16. Change Champions are AADE members who, through their work, embody this key strategy. Consider these individuals just several AADE members among us wjp are doing extraordinary work to evolve our profession and achieve our strategic goals.

From my vantage point a number of forces are causing and enabling emerging roles for diabetes educators: 1) the escalating numbers of people diagnosed with type 1 diabetes1, type 2 diabetes and prediabetes2, 2) data from AADE, such as our systematic review3 that demonstrate our services are effective and they bend the healthcare cost curve, 3) emphasis on prevention and preventive services, 4) the availability of digital technologies to deliver education and support programs virtually through myriad communication vehicles, 4) focus on providing and improving care in the primary care arena and 5) transformation of payment models in healthcare.

Yes, just a few monumental changes!

A deep dive into all of these emerging roles and responsibilities for diabetes educators at all levels of practice will be featured at our 2016 Annual Meeting in sunny San Diego, from Friday August 12th to Monday August 15th. The theme for AADE16, which dovetails well with our new strategic plan, is Embrace Change, Strengthen Our Future, Celebrate! And we will do just that, starting with our keynote speakers on topics ranging from health and diabetes care transformation, to personal and professional growth in times of change, to a holistic view of obesity management and more.

We’ve revamped our learning tracks to more closely reflect the widening array of attendees’ learning needs with programs on developing and utilizing entrepreneurial skills, taking on novel roles and implementing novel approaches to deliver diabetes care and management, enhancing expertise in psychosocial issues and promoting behavior changes, and pioneering use of technologies and connected health modalities to achieve clinical and cost-effective outcomes.

With the person affected by or at risk for diabetes at the center of our strategic plan and all the work we do, we’ve invited a person with diabetes, actor and entertainer Jim Turner, of dLife fame, to host our annual meeting. 

If you’ve not already registered and booked your travel, do so now! Learn about the meeting and stay up to date on the latest meeting news at AADE16.org. I look forward to seeing you in sunny San Diego! Thanks for all you do!

 

References: 

  1. Li L, Jick S, Breitenstein S, Michel A: Prevalence of diabetes and diabetic nephropathy in a large U.S. commercially insured pediatric population, 2002–2013. Diabetes Care. Published ahead of print December 17, 2015.
  2.  CDC. National Diabetes Statistics Report, 2014. http://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/pubs/statsreport14/national-diabetes-report-web.pdf
  3.  Chrvala CA, Sherr D, Lipman RD. Diabetes self-management education for adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus: A systematic review of the effect on glycemic control. Patient Educ Couns. 2015 Nov 22. pii: S0738-3991(15)30116-6. doi: 10.1016/j.pec.2015.11.003.