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CARINGNEWS Advertiser’s announcement
A Care Development East and DUET diabetes collaboration
Addressing gaps in diabetes awareness and blood glucose knowledge n Ensured that social care providers across the region were aware of and able to access the training sessions.
Lynne Reedman and Michelle Tomkins
The situation Diabetes prevalence is increasing in the general population, with approximately 25 per cent of people in care homes currently living with the condition. Social care support workers thus play a vital role in assisting a major proportion of our population. However, we found that staff often feel uncertain about how to recognise symptoms of fluctuating blood glucose levels or how to use glucometers correctly due to a lack of structured, role-relevant training. This creates a significant risk to service users, potentially leading to delayed intervention or inappropriate responses to diabetes-related health concerns. The solution To help reduce avoidable hospital admissions by ensuring a safer and more effective care whilst improving knowledge of diabetes across the region, Care Development East: n Recognised the necessity for social care workers to develop practical skills in diabetes awareness and blood glucose monitoring. n Endorsed the importance of face-toface hands-on training to ensure accuracy and confidence. n Engaged DUET diabetes as an expert training provider partner with an extensive track record in delivering diabetes education to more than 2,400 learners. n Developed a tailored training programme for social workers in collaboration with DUET diabetes, providing role-relevant education enabling team members to deliver high quality, holistic, and person-centred care for people living with diabetes. n Organised and delivered six face-toface training sessions to people working in a variety of social care roles across two locations in Suffolk.
The outcomes The training programme was highly successful, delivering: n A deeper understanding reported by participants regarding diabetes, the importance of blood glucose monitoring, and how to take appropriate action when blood glucose levels are out of range; n Measurable improvements in attendees’ confidence in managing diabetes and using glucometers, as well as where to locate other resources and guidelines to help them in their practice. n A positive impact across the organisations who attended by equipping individuals with essential skills that will directly contribute to improved diabetes management for a wide range of service users – including people also living with dementia, learning disabilities and autism. n A holistic mindset to person centred diabetes care by helping attendees’ to understand the impact on physical, emotional and psychological wellbeing. Graphical representation of attendees’ self-assessed confidence levels prior to and after the workshop*:
Lessons learned and next steps The demand for this training exceeded expectations, demonstrating a clear need for continued and expanded diabetes education for social care across our region. Attendees particularly praised the practical nature of the programme and the ability to apply their learning directly in their roles, highlighting that face-to-face training remains invaluable for skill-based learning, especially when handling medical devices such as glucometers. Comprehensive workshops in small groups supported the attendees’ learning preference (see graph below*), thus assisting in the positive impact of the learning experience. Attendees expressed their gratitude for the opportunity for personal development in their roles to further enhance the care
they deliver and the communications they have with healthcare professionals.
Furthermore, collaborating with a specialist provider like DUET diabetes ensured the training was well organised, evidence based, and highly relevant. The interactive nature of the sessions was effective in not only benefiting care staff in their roles but, for some, also in their personal lives (as some divulged that they or a close family member were living with diabetes). Over the coming months, we will be working to expand training locations to include the west of Suffolk to reach a broader audience, as well as explore additional workshops covering more advanced aspects of diabetes management alongside DUET diabetes. This training will assist in the development of social care teams – empowering them and elevating their ability to support and advocate for vulnerable people living with diabetes in our communities. Development, confidence and job satisfaction not only aids the delivery of high quality, safe and responsive care, but can also contribute to staff retention. If you would like to find out more about this programme or would like to discuss your diabetes training needs, relevant contact details are below: Michelle Tompkins, Workforce Development Officer, Care Development East https://caredevelopmenteast.co.uk/ contact/michelle-tomkins 01449 720400 (https://caredevelopmenteast.co.uk/) Lynne Reedman, Founder & Service Lead, DUET diabetes Info@duetdiabetes.co.uk 01799 584178 (https://www.duetdiabetes.co.uk/) *To give independent integrity to feedback, DUET diabetes uses an online platform from Gather to collect, collate and analyse the results from confidence surveys and feedback provide pre and post training (https://www.wegather.info/) A couple of quotes from attendees: “Very good update/ refresher of diabetes. Always new things to learn, good to stay up to date. More confident now in imparting knowledge to others. Thank you.” “All of it was useful. Knowing where to get additional information, guidance and support really helpful. Practical really useful”