Diabetes Capabilities for the Healthcare Workforce Identified via a 3-Staged Modified Delphi Technique.

Area of Science:

• Health Services Research
• Medical Education
• Public Health Policy

Background:

• Consumers receive conflicting diabetes advice due to varied health professional knowledge.
• Conflicting health messages contribute to consumer disengagement with diabetes care.
• A standardized approach to diabetes education and care is needed.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify essential capabilities for health professionals delivering diabetes education and care.
• To develop a national consensus capability-based framework for diabetes training.
• To inform policy, practice, education, and research in diabetes management.

Main Methods:

• A 3-stage modified Delphi technique involving 84 Australian diabetes experts.
• Expert panel recruited from nursing, midwifery, allied health, and pharmacy disciplines.
• Quantitative (descriptive statistics) and qualitative (content analysis) methods used to achieve consensus.

Main Results:

• Identified 7 health professional practice levels with differing training needs.
• Defined 9 core capability areas and 259 consensus statements for diabetes care.
• Developed a Capability Framework for Diabetes Care aligned with the Australian National Diabetes Strategy.

Conclusions:

• The validated framework promotes shared understanding of diabetes across health professions.
• The framework addresses workforce enablers and aims to improve diabetes care delivery.
• Findings will guide improvements in diabetes policy, practice, education, and research.