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Diabetes educators report confidence in delivering personalized care
HOUSTON — Diabetes educators report confidence in promoting person-centered care and addressing related conditions when caring for people with diabetes, according to survey findings presented at the American Association of Diabetes Educators annual meeting.
Gwen Klinkner, DNP, RN, BC-ADM, CDE, diabetes clinical nurse specialist at UWHealth, University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics and the Inpatient Management Community of Interest (COI) chair for the AADE, distributed a survey that assessed confidence in promoting the “six pillars” of the organization’s Project Vision, a multi-year initiative designed to position diabetes educators for success within a changing health care environment. The six pillars are person-centered diabetes care; driving integration of strategies at the individual and clinical levels; including related conditions when treating patients with diabetes; focusing on behavioral health; leveraging technology to improve outcomes; promoting person-centered care; and achieving the quadruple aim where a diabetes care and education specialist “positively impacts quality and cost and enhances the experience for both the person with diabetes and the provider.” Seventy-five members of the COI completed the survey from July 8 to 19.
“Survey results suggest that members feel somewhat competent in all pillars but are embracing the call to learn more and expand their role and expertise,” Klinkner told Endocrine Today. “AADE is providing a great deal of resources and support to all members to promote the vision and to expand knowledge and skills, but survey results suggest that [inpatient management] COI members are looking to the COI to be a key source for day-to-day growth and support.”
The majority of those surveyed were nurses (77.3%), followed by dietitians (16%) and pharmacists (2.7%). Sixty-nine percent of responders said they worked in an inpatient environment, 54.7% said they were a member of two to three COIs, and 21.3% said they were a member of at least four, according to Klinkner.
“One surprising aspect was that about one-third of respondents reported that inpatient care is not their primary work environment,” Klinkner said. “This, and the fact that about 75% of members reported subscribing to more than one COI, suggests that cross-pollination is occurring and must be used to our advantage when trying to elevate the knowledge and skills of our AADE members.”
Among survey responders, 66% indicated that they were very confident in promoting person-centered care, whereas 29.73% were somewhat confident. For “including related conditions,” 50% said they were very confident, and 42.67% said they were somewhat confident. Responders expressed less confidence in driving integration with 24% reporting they were very confident and 52% reporting they were somewhat confident; 22.67% said they were a little confident, and 1.33% were not confident at all. Only 17.33% of responders reported feeling very confident in leveraging technology whereas 53.33% were somewhat confident, 28% were a little confident and 1.33% were not confident at all. Regarding “focusing on behavioral health,” 18.67% said they were very confident and 62.67% said they were somewhat confident while, 17.33% said they were a little confident and 1.33% said they were not at all confident. In addition, 20% said they were very confident and 54.67% said they were somewhat confident in achieving the quadruple aim, whereas 21.33% were a little confident and 4% were not at all confident.
Sixty-nine percent of participants said promoting person-centered care was an area they felt the COI helped them with while 47.3% said so about including related conditions and 41.9% said so about driving integration. One-third of the participants indicated similar feelings about leveraging technology, achieving the quadruple aim (29.7%) and focusing on behavioral health (14.9%). Most participants said they would like more assistance from the COI to achieve the quadruple aim (58.1%) and drive integration (54.1%) while 50% wanted additional help for focusing on behavioral health and 46% required improvements in leveraging technology. Similar feelings were marked for fewer than 30% of the participants when it came to promoting person-centered care (21.6%) and including related conditions (28.4%).
“This data is important as we plan ahead for the coming year. As a COI lead, I’m working to engage our members by asking them to blog, share their stories, resources and expertise with their peers, so that we’re all working together toward the vision of our specialty,” Klinkner said. “These survey results give us a baseline; it’ll be exciting to see where we are in the next few years.” – by Phil Neuffer
References:
Klinkner G, et al. P407. Presented at: American Association of Diabetes Educators; Aug. 9-12, 2019; Houston.
Project Vision. Available at: www.diabeteseducator.org/about-aade/project-vision. Accessed August 10, 2019.
Disclosure: Klinkner reports no relevant financial disclosures.