The primary goal of diabetes education is to provide knowledge and skill training, help individuals identify barriers, facilitate problem-solving and coping skills to achieve effective self-care behavior and behavior change.

Diabetes Educators are health professionals – nurses, dietitians, pharmacists, doctors, exercise physiologists, podiatrists and social workers, among others – who specialize in providing care and education to people with diabetes. Many are also certified diabetes educators (CDE), which means they have been met additional care criteria.

They counsel patients on how to incorporate healthy eating and physical activity into their life. They also help patients understand how their medications work, teach them how to monitor their blood glucose to avoid the risk of complications, and give them the ability to problem solve and adjust emotionally to diabetes.

By getting to know them as an individual, they are able to help create a self-management plan that meets their needs – one based on age, school or work schedule, as well as daily activities, family demands, eating habits and health problems.

For more information check out the American Association of Diabetes Educators website.

Additonal Helpful Information:

• The American Diabetes Association
  The American Diabetes Association is the nation's leading nonprofit health organization providing diabetes research, information and advocacy.
• CDC's Diabetes Program
  The National Diabetes Education Program (NDEP) was launched in 1997 to improve diabetes management and reduce the morbidity and mortality from diabetes and its complications. It is sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
• GlucoMenu.com
  In addition to the meal planning service Gluco Menu offers a free online support group, food picker, weekly newsletter, and a variety of Diabetes related articles.
• The National Diabetes Education Program
  NDEP is a partnership of the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and more than 200 public and private organizations.