National Consensus Standards for Diabetic Patient Education Programs: A First Step in Solving an Important Puzzle

Patient education in self-care is an important component of any treatment program for persons with diabetes mellitus.¹ The relevance of effective patient instruction is underscored by the many complex survival skills for which the patient is responsible. Diabetic patients provided effective instruction in self-care may suffer less morbidity² and economic loss³ than those without instruction. As much as 40% of all hospitalizations caused by diabetes as the primary diagnosis may be partly or completely attributable to a lack of patient knowledge in proper self-care.⁴

There has been increasing concern about the availability and quality of services for patient education in hospitals and health agencies.⁵ A large minority of American hospitals have grossly inadequate programs of diabetic patient education.⁶ This may even be true for academic institutions.⁷ In many institutions, instruction is left to printed materials or primary care nurses. Printed materials may require