Diabetes education: a keystone in the management of diabetes

Diabetes is reaching epidemic proportions in many countries of the world and the World Health Organization (WHO) predicts a tripling of the current prevalence rates by 2025. In reality there will not be sufficient physicians to cope with this epidemic. One solution is to utilize highly skilled allied health professionals to do much of the routine diabetes education and management. Convincing hospital administrators of this need, however, can be problematic especially when for many years the focus of the health service has been on communicable diseases. Selection of appropriate staff is very important as they will need to take on much of the burden of the work. Of course these staff require comprehensive clinical training beyond what is expected of most health professionals. In addition to this, it is generally recognized that a multidisciplinary team is an effective method of providing diabetes care. However, a multidisciplinary team is not simply the sum of different health professionals who work independently. Rather, the various members of the diabetes health care team, while working within their own scope of practice, need to integrate their roles to complement each other and blend together. Diabetes is one of the foremost health challenges facing the world in the new millennium. It has the potential to overwhelm health budgets. Health administrators and health service planners need to heed the warnings as the toll from this serious disease mounts.