[Development and Clinical Applicability of an Educational Guidebook for Managing Diabetes With Cognitive Impairment]

A correlation between diabetes and cognitive impairment is supported in the literature. People with both diabetes and cognitive impairment have on average lower medical adherence, self-care abilities, and decision-making capacity than their peers with diabetes only, often leading to poor glycemic control and complications. Enhanced professional support and resource integration are needed to improve care quality and reduce the burden of family caregivers.

The goal of this study is to develop an educational guidebook for diabetes educators designed to improve the management of diabetes in patients with cognitive impairment and then establish expert validity and evaluate its clinical applicability.

The educational guidebook was developed based on a literature review and the findings of prior research. Expert validity was established using a modified Delphi method, and diabetes educators were invited to implement the guidebook in diabetes education to evaluate its applicability.

The educational guidebook developed in this study covers an introduction to diabetes and cognitive impairment, recommendations for diabetes educators, care challenges and recommended strategies, and family support. The expert content validity score was 1.0, and 78.6% of the diabetes educators in the applicability assessment rated the content as important and clear. Furthermore, the qualitative data confirmed the guidebook as a practical and effective tool in diabetes education.

The developed guidebook demonstrated excellent expert validity and clinical applicability, reflecting a high level of endorsement from diabetes educators. It is well suited to addressing the challenges faced in diabetes care by patients with cognitive impairment. The guidebook should be integrated into continuing education for diabetes educators and tailored to meet the specific needs of different institutions.