Getting a Diabetes Education
Learning that you have diabetes can be an overwhelming experience. You’re likely to have dozens of questions about how to manage this new responsibility. This is why you should see a diabetes educator as soon as you find out that you have the disease. Diabetes educators are key members of your diabetes treatment team. You should be able to find one in your town or in a larger community nearby. Most diabetes educators are nurses or dietitians, but any health care professional with an interest in diabetes management may become trained as a certified diabetes educator (CDE).
An educator can teach you how to monitor your blood glucose, give yourself insulin injections, treat and recognize low and high blood glucose, take pills, and make successful lifestyle changes.
Follow-up visits are important, too. See an educator when you need to make major lifestyle changes or if you have problems with diabetes management. An educator can help you adjust your meal plan and medication if you start exercising, for example. Or he or she could help you make changes if you develop other health problems, or if you’re going through a major life event, or retiring. Even if everything is going smoothly, an educator can teach you the latest developments in diabetes care. Education, in general, can make you much healthier.
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