I feel like I could read all day every day and still not feel up to date with all the changes in managing diabetes. I'm reading 3 journals, 3 blogs, reviewing 2 websites, attending seminars and continuing education -- and with each interaction, I learn just a little more.
It certainly helps me feel empathetic to the patient who feels totally overwhelmed with information and doesn't know where to start -- so he doesn't.
As I try to determine what stage of change the patient is in -- pre-contemplative, contemplative, etc., I quite often seem to see a 'deer in the headlights' stage.
I really do believe that showing them an outline of the AADE 7 Self-Care Behaviors and letting them choose where they want to start, gives them an anchor and a sense of purpose and direction. Having a starting point and being given permission to start with just one takes some of the pressure off the need to learn it all. The first step is so often the hardest. Easing into the superhighway may give them the confidence to continue moving forward into the lifelong learning that managing diabetes will require.
What do you think?
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