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Beebe's Diabetes Education Program Merits ADA Recognition

10/13/03

Beebe Medical Center’s “Diabetes Management: An Education Series” program at the Longneck Health Center has been awarded continued recognition from the American Diabetes Association (ADA). The program was originally recognized in August 2000.

The ADA recognizes programs that offer high-quality education services to the patients they serve. The ADA Education Recognition effort is a voluntary process that assures that the approved education programs have met the National Standards for Diabetes Self-Management Education Programs. Programs that achieve Recognition status have a staff of knowledgeable health professionals who can provide state-of-the-art information about diabetes management for participants. Beebe Medical Center’s program has three certified diabetes educators (CDEs) that teach in their program.

“The process gives professionals a national standard by which to measure the quality of the services we provide,” explains Tina Trout, RN, MSCDE, Beebe Medical Center Diabetes Educator and program coordinator. “It also helps the community to identify quality programs.”

Self-management education is an essential component of diabetes treatment. Assuring high-quality education for patient self-care is one of the primary goals of ADA-recognized programs. Through the support of the healthcare team and increased knowledge and awareness of diabetes, patients can assume a major part of the responsibility for their diabetes management. Unnecessary hospital admissions and some of the acute and chronic complications of diabetes may be prevented through self-management education.

All approved education programs cover the following topics, as needed: diabetes overview; stress and psychosocial adjustment; family involvement and social support; nutrition; exercise and activity; medications; monitoring and use of results; relationships among nutrition, exercise, medication, and blood glucose levels; prevention, detection and treatment of acute and chronic complications; foot, skin and dental care; behavior change strategies, goal setting, risk factor reduction, and problem solving; benefits, risks and management options for improving glucose control; preconception care, pregnancy and gestational diabetes; and use of health care systems and community resources.

For more information, class schedules and the referral process, please contact Beebe’s Longneck Health Center Diabetes Management Education Program at 302-947-2500.