What Is DSMT, and Is It Important?
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DSMT contributes to the reduction of morbidity and mortality in people with diabetes.6
A representative task force of major national public health and diabetes-related organizations with significant interest in the provision of quality diabetes care and self-management reviewed the National Standards for Diabetes Self-Management Education and published a 2004 update that recognizes DSMT as “the cornerstone of care for all individuals with diabetes who want to achieve successful health-related outcomes.”7 The standards stress that patient behavior and lifestyle changes are the keys to the success of diabetes self-management.7 The 2004 standards further state that DSMT programs should assess individual patient needs according to 10 specific content areas for patient education,7 including:
- Description of the diabetes disease process and treatment options
- Appropriate nutrition management
- Options for pharmacotherapeutic management
- Monitoring of blood glucose and urine ketones, and using the results to improve glycemic control
- Prevention, detection, and treatment of acute complications
- Patient goal setting to promote health, and problem solving for daily living
- Integration of psychosocial adjustment to daily life
- Promotion of preconception care, management during pregnancy, and gestational diabetes management if applicable
Yet according to statistics from
Healthy People 2010, the Department of Health and Human Services’ blueprint for health goals for Americans, as of the year 1998 only 45% of people with diabetes received formal diabetes education.
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