Great Start to New Year!

Last week we held our first AADE board of directors meeting for 2014 in Miami, FL where I was officially sworn in as President-elect. I am going to take the opportunity this year to learn from the individuals who precede me!

We started the meeting with a special all day orientation for new board members. Although I have only been off the board for one year, it was important for me to hear updates and changes that have occurred since I left.  I think the new board members really appreciated the detail of the orientation and feel prepared to do their work for the organization. I am really looking forward to working with them and learning from their different backgrounds and experience.

We also had a great team building activity at a South Beach restaurant roof top overlooking the beach. We were led by two chefs and were taught how to make 2 items: a shrimp dish and a deviled egg dish using a “secret ingredient” of our choice.  The chef’s judged the teams by not only taste but also food presentation.  I am happy to say I was on the winning team! I, however, am not a cook, and I was perfectly happy to let those with the appropriate skills lead the way while I stepped back and chopped parsley. 

The committee meetings were on Friday and the Board of Directors meeting on Saturday.

There are 4 committees that do the work of the board: Planning and Development, Stakeholders Members Relations, Performance, Oversight and Monitoring, and Governance committees. This year I sit on both Planning and Development and Governance.

The Planning and Development committee’s main role is to plan and oversee the strategic planning process to position AADE to effectively face issues in the healthcare environment and the world. The committee also leads the board in planning the annual budget for both operational and strategic initiatives. I am excited for 2015 when I am President as we will be planning and developing AADEs next 3 year strategic plan to be implemented starting in 2016.  This is an important time of change in healthcare so one of the first key steps that will happen later this year is to perform an Environmental Scan. The scan helps to identify key issues and trends facing the association, diabetes self-management education, healthcare and diabetes educators in order to incorporate these important issues into the strategic planning process. AADE hires a team that specializes in this process to help us gather and analyze data.  In addition the board of director’s role is to keep abreast of key issues and to bring them to the meetings for discussion. Once the plan has been designed, vetted and developed, then all of AADEs focus, initiatives and resources revolve around implementing that plan.  The present strategic plan can be downloaded here:  https://www.diabeteseducator.org/About/Governance/plan.html

The strategic plan is grounded in the organizations mission and vision:

AADE Mission: Empower healthcare professionals with the knowledge and skills to deliver exceptional diabetes education, management and support
AADE Vision: Optimal health and wellness for all people with diabetes and related chronic conditions

As we go through the year I will highlight some of the work that AADE is doing to implement our strategic plan and prepare for the next cycle. Maybe you can be involved in the strategic planning process?  AADE is seeking new leaders to join the Board of Directors with passion and vision to support AADE and diabetes educators and to serve our members and diabetes community. Applications can be found on the website here. https://www.diabeteseducator.org/Members/Elections.html

I have learned so much through my AADE service and look forward to learning more!

Have a great day!

 Deb

Jacksonville, Florida Diabetes Weekend

Since I am in Florida for two AADE meetings and instead of flying back and forth across the country decided to stay in Jacksonville to visit my very dear friend, who happens to have diabetes. She is definitely an example of an engaged patient that uses peer support! Since I was coming she decided to organize a diabetes weekend for her friends with diabetes, some of whom are members of her Diabetes Sister’s group that she started.  The first night we went to a JDRF evening social where I not only met many people with diabetes, I also met the chair of the Jacksonville AADE LNG, (they were having a meeting across the parking lot in a different restaurant). It was a great opportunity to talk about the upcoming AADE annual meeting in Orlando in August. 

The following day was a “pampering day at the spa” where a few of us spent time relaxing, rejuvenating, and also exercising! In our busy lives it is so infrequent that we really take time out for ourselves and do something that really falls into the AADE7 category of “Healthy Coping.”  We all thought the day was just what we needed to re-energize ourselves.

The diabetes weekend ended with a speaker on Health Eating and sampled a few healthy recipes for lunch! We ate Kale chips and Kale salad along with a spicy black bean vegetarian chili topped with Greek yogurt and avocado. (I will try to upload a photo of the recipe, it was delicious!) I also had the opportunity to talk with the group of women, all with type 1 diabetes, about the role of a diabetes educator and to provide some information about type 2 diabetes.  It was interesting to me that most of the women saw a diabetes educator when they were first diagnosed, but none of them were actively engaged with an educator now.  The women relied on their support group and social media including a Facebook Tandem pump uses page, Diabetes Mine and several others etc. when they needed information and support.

The weekend did a couple of things for me. 1) Although I already appreciate this fact, it reminded me how challenging it is to live with type 1 diabetes on an hour to hour basis. 2) It reinforced the power of support groups both in person and online. 3) Reminded me that many people with diabetes do not have an ongoing relationship with a diabetes educator.

From this weekend and previous discussions I have had with people with type 1, there is a sense that often diabetes educators have their own educational agenda and it might not fit with the lifestyle of the person with diabetes.  We need to continuously remind ourselves that we need to help people solve problems, connect them with support and develop partnerships to help improve quality of life……… and leave our personal agendas at the door!

American Society of Association Executives (ASAE)

January 15 & 16 I attended a great CEO Symposium put on by ASAE.  The program was for association chief staff officers and chief elected officers. The two day, interactive workshop created an opportunity for myself and the AADE CEO to learn about effective association management, our leadership style, and our strengths and weaknesses.  We now know that we have some areas where we are similar and some that are different and that sometimes being different is the best thing as it creates a balance.  We also reviewed how a high functioning Board of Directors performs, with a focus on visioning and strategic planning.  In 2015, the Board of Directors of AADE will create the 2016-2018 strategic plan and this meeting spent a good deal of time reviewing this process and to get a head start into the planning process. I found it a great opportunity to delve into my ideas and vision of the future of diabetes education and diabetes educators and then to discuss those ideas with the CEO. We discussed the process of doing an environmental scan and the insights AADE needs to gather prior to the strategic planning process. One interesting thing we shared with each other was our thinking “body language” For example, I like to process things in my head first, before I speak. Other people process by taking out loud.  It was great to clarify and say, “If my face indicates I am not in favor of a position, it could just be that I am thinking and formulating my response.” We also were able to spend time with the CEO and President of the National Certification Board of Diabetes Educators (NCBDE) since they were attending the same symposium.  We are all looking forward to the year ahead and hope that the ACA will bring positive changes to the lives of people with diabetes. I can’t think of a better way to start my term as President-elect!

AADE Leadership Meeting

I just returned last night from the fantastic AADE Leadership 2014 meeting in Chicago at the Conrad Hotel. Many state CB leaders attended along with some additional LNG leaders. Aside from the sad fact that past President Tami Ross had her flight canceled three days in a row and was unable to make the meeting, it was a dynamic and well organized meeting. I had the privilege of introducing several of our speakers but also was able to participate and learn as well.  AADE offered Yoga in the morning before the sessions and worked with the hotel to provide healthy, portion controlled meals and snacks that were very tasty!

A highlight for me was an inspiring presentation by Kiki L'Italien called "Find your Voice."  Kiki did a great job of engaging the audience and encouraged us to think through each segment by discussing at our tables and then sharing with the group. We talked about what makes us afraid of challenges and what we would do if we could face our fears. One of my goals for this year is to tweet more during meetings and conferences and to also encourage all forms of social media within our diabetes educator group.  As a matter of fact, I was very happy to meet @Arizona AADE and put a name to a face! Rachel is going to be working to increase the use of social media in the diabetes education community and has some great ideas! We are hoping to expand our followers and who we follow, so please let @DebGreenwood know of any diabetes related bloggers, twitter users, Facebook pages etc! Also very happy Rachel was selected as one of the 2014 MAC Co-Facilitators! A few fellow CA AADE members were attending so it was great to see Steve, Richard and MJ.  Unfortunately Tammi was sick and was not able to attend or present her program on "Planning a Successful Statewide Conference-Made Easy!" but MJ stepped in and was a fantastic speaker!  MJ will be a great CA CB leader following in Tammi's footsteps.   Karen Kemmis and Molly McElwee-Malloy taught us all about blogging (something I need!) and helped motivate me to write today!

Of course, "Advocacy Training and Updates" is always a presentation I look forward to hearing and James Specker and Casey Elliott did a great job of updating the group on all of AADEs advocacy efforts and the process of state legislation for diabetes educators. Kentucky is still the only state that has passed legislation, but several states are in various stages of the process. I am really looking forward to the Public Policy forum in Washington, DC this spring. I would be remiss if I didn't mention that our CEO Chuck Macfarlane and our President Joan Bardsley gave informative updates on the AADE strategic plan as well as healthcare reform and the changing landscape of diabetes education.  I am very excited about our annual meeting in Orland August 6-9, 2014 as Joan and the committee have been working hard to think outside the box and to bring in speakers that will challenge the status quo and help us to think about the future of diabetes care and education.
There were many more topics that were interesting, but trying to follow the blog length rule!

I want to conclude with how the Leadership meeting ended.  As Joan thanked everyone and the AADE staff for their great job, all of the attendees started to stand to give the AADE staff a standing ovation!!  When is the last time you witnessed this at a workshop?  It almost made me cry! That is a testament to the detail, quality and care with which this leadership meeting was implemented.  I feel very fortunate to be an officer of the board of directors for this organization!  I have a challenge for all of the AADE members out there.....share this blog with another diabetes educator or person with diabetes (e-patient) and encourage them to join AADE this year!  We are now 14,035 members strong and with the exciting new NCBDE changes allowing MCHES health educators to sit for the CDE exam, this will expand the numbers of educators and access to diabetes education.  Let's welcome them to AADE, share our great resources with them and learn from each other.

 Until next time,

Deb Greenwood
2014 AADE President Elect
@DebGreenwood
Facebook: Collaborative Wisdom e-Community: e-Patients and e-Diabetes Educators
dgreenwoodcde@gmail.com

Hi everyone,
I am just about to embark on a 3 year journey as American Association of Diabetes Educators (AADE) President elect, President and Past President so I thought it would be a great time to revive this blog to remember all of my experiences and travel as well as the new people I meet! If you see that I am attending a diabetes meeting that you will also be attending, please email me and let me know.  My goal is to connect with as many individuals as I can. I am really hoping to meet many diabetes e-patients around the US and world wide. I am hoping this blog will help me keep a record of all of my experiences and to capture some key moments in my life.

Although not officially representing AADE, I will be attending and speaking at the International Diabetes Federation World Congress in Melbourne, Australia December 2-6, 2013. This will kick off my adventures!  Please let me know if you will be attending the conference so we can say hello! I will be presenting on Wednesday, December 4 regarding diabetes self-management support using Telehealth communications. I will also be presenting a poster related to my dissertation research, specifically data from a systematic review of Telehealth clinical trials and the incorporation of key elements of structured self-monitoring of blood glucose.

I have been busy this fall, I presented a Webinar on the e-Patient in diabetes education in October and was interviewed live streaming on Tu Diabetes.  In November I sat on a panel during an advocacy meeting in Palm Springs, CA where we focused on the ADA Safe at School program. While in Palm Springs I participated in the ADA 5K walk through the beautiful La Quinta golf course. I was so impressed that the resort closed their golf course on a beautiful Saturday morning in November!


Here we go!

Deb

Exploration of the e-patient phenomenon in nursing informatics

Those of you who know me, know that I am very interested in the topic of the e-Patient.  When we published this paper last year, we realized that only academics with access to journals through a university library or those with journal subscriptions would be able to read this paper and learn along with us.  We asked if there could be open access to this paper so that patients would be able to read our paper and know that there were clinicians in practice that welcomed and encouraged engaged patients, but unfortunately it did not happen.  Today while searching for something unrelated, I came across our paper online in a PDF format so thought I would share.

http://www.nursingconsult.com/nursing/journals/0029-6554/full-text/PDF/s0029655411003587.pdf?issn=0029-6554&full_text=pdf&pdfName=s0029655411003587.pdf&spid=25426495&article_id=1090306

If you are going to the American Association of Diabetes Educators meeting in Philadelphia next month, Perry Gee and I will be presenting on this topic as it specifically relates to diabetes.  We are looking forward to taking the conversation to more clinicians and e-Patients in the future.

Back to school writing now.....

Strip Safely

I have not posted in quite a while, just a few things going on in my life that have gotten in the way! But this recent campaign encouraged me to send letters to my congressman and the FDA.
Please check out this link and if so inclined please write a letter yourself.  Strip Safely 

 

The is the intro to my letter, a true story that happened just a couple of days ago. 

Jeffrey Shuren, MD JD

jeff.shuren@fda.hhs.gov

Director, Center for Devices and Radiological Health

Food and Drug Administration

10903 New Hampshire Avenue, WO66-5442,

Silver Spring, MD 20993

July 7, 2013

Dear Dr. Shuren.

I am a certified diabetes educator and also a friend of many people with diabetes, both type 1 and type 2. I am also a researcher conducting a study in individuals with type 2 diabetes focusing on blood glucose monitoring.  I cannot tell you how many messages I receive from patients confused and upset that their blood glucose values vary dramatically between tests and between meters. These people are working so hard to improve their glucose control and are diligently testing and confirming their values, just to learn that the range can be so incredibly different.  This past week a patient had a blood glucose value of 548, she called frantic trying to decide what she should do.  She then tested on a second meter she had at home and the value was 323. When I told her that I was not at all surprised by the drastically different value she was in shock.  A variance of 20% could indicate that the real value may be between 440-656, or 259-387.  How do you make an informed, educated decision knowing the real value is somewhere between 259 and 656?  No one should live with a chronic disease and have to face daily challenging decisions that may impact life or death based on their actions.  We can fix this problem and we need your help!  It is not asking too much to be able to reassure a worried person that at least their glucose value is accurate while they face the other multitude of issues required to live and be healthy with diabetes. I urge you to please address this issue soon.

Deborah Greenwood, PhDc, RN, MEd, CNS, BC-ADM, CDE, FAADE