Structured education for people with type 2 diabetes

doi:10.1136/bmj.39478.693715.80

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Sean F Dinneen, senior lecturer in medicine

¹Department of Medicine, Clinical Science Institute, National University of Ireland Galway, Galway, Ireland

sean.dinneen@nuigalway.ie

A step towards a more patient centred approach to delivery of care

Effective self management is the cornerstone of good care for people with diabetes. High quality structured education that prepares people for a lifetime with the condition is a key enabler of self management. The term structured education programme was defined by a patient education working group in 2005 (box).1 A good example of such a programme for patients with type 1 diabetes is the DAFNE (dose adjustment for normal eating) programme,2 which has been endorsed by National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) guidance.3

Key criteria of a structured education programme

A clear underlying philosophy on which the programme is based
A structured written curriculum
Trained educators familiar with the programme and its delivery
A quality assurance system applied to the structure, process, content, and delivery of the programme
A process of audit of programme outcomes including biomedical, psychosocial, and patient experience

High quality trials of structured education for people with type 2 diabetes in the United Kingdom have been …