Have we missed the person in effective diabetes education for older persons?

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“Diabetes is a significant global health challenge that won't be resolved overnight,” says Dr. Pilar Camargo-Plazas, Associate Professor at Queen’s University School of Nursing. “Gaining more knowledge is crucial to develop effective educational health programs for older persons. Their experiences are vital to shaping such programs that can genuinely make a positive impact on their journey to better health.” Dr. Camargo-Plazas recently led a groundbreaking comprehensive research review to understand the learning needs of older persons diagnosed with diabetes and to identify any effective, existing strategies for enhancing diabetes self-management skills in this population. Based on JBI methodology, the researchers examined 44 academic publications and research studies about diabetes education strategies and interventions for older persons in Western countries. The first-of-its-kind scoping review, published this week [August 9, 2023] in PLOS ONE, revealed significant variation in the context, design, delivery, and duration of education programs—an issue which can compromise meaningful comparison and synthesis. Regarding overall program effectiveness, the authors found most educational interventions for diabetes self-management had varying degrees of success. However, a significant gap was the omission of participant perspectives and their understanding of self-management education. “Personal experiences and cultural influences, married with preferred ways of learning, are vital to the design and delivery of DSME. Additionally, given only one educational program was described as ongoing care, we recommend further research about the sustainability of these types of interventions—if positive outcomes are time-limited, we will know we have more work to do,” says co-author Dr. Lenora Duhn, Associate Professor, Queen’s University School of Nursing. “Our findings serve as an important wake-up call about diabetes self-management education for older persons,” says Dr. Camargo-Plazas. “Health providers need to ensure diabetes self-management education first and foremost prioritizes the self. If we lose perspective on the person, their circumstances, and their experiences, then we are, most likely, missing out on meaningful learning opportunities.”

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