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Extending
the range of
home tele-services that can be
brought to today's patients.
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Diabetes
& Tele-assisting: What's Working?
 Telediabetes:
It's the increased use of communications (the tele component)
to provide educational and clinical care more frequently and comprehensively
for persons living with diabetes.
In diabetes,
available technology (the glucose meter, for one) for usual daily
care may be more commonplace than for some other chronic disease
patients' care. (If it is used, of course.) What's more, usual glucometers
that are "telecommunications-ready" enable patients to
send their providers glucose measurement results by telephone line/computer
modem for review. The potential here: more and timely communications
with clinicians to keep patients on track, and help people living
with diabetes to, simply, know "what to do."
These and other
new tele-tools have earned at least 10 points in the "potential"
category. They are far ranging, they are readily available, and
they work. When they're used.
Unfortunately,
people with diabetes, like most of us, are still waiting for the
Magic [diabetes, obesity, beauty-you fill in the blank] Pill to
change their glucose levels, obesity, and other manageable problems.
At least 88% of people with diabetes are on that waiting list, apparently.
According to a recent JAMA article,
less than 12% of people diagnosed with diabetes meet recommended
goals for blood glucose, blood pressure, and cholesterol levels.
They will take medications but few want to make lifestyle changes.
And… liposuction
as a solution? That, too, is reported to have no effect whatsoever
on lowering our risk of diabetes (which is fat related).
 Tele-
Tools for Diabetes
… today's targeted workstations
Workstations?
First, let's decide: same old, same old? Or, much closer
to what's changed: revamped and targeted. Telehealth workstations,
the most familiar tool in home telehealth, have become not
only modular and lightweight but streamlined for directed
use in diabetes care. . Examples are:
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Patient
Care Technologies: Its well.at.home®
program contains a customized Diabetes module, and a large
touchscreen for daily directions that provide individualized
education, guidance and reminders, as per the patient's
physician's orders. An integrated IT system enables caregivers
to assess what care is needed and what is working. Exact
changes in insulin doses, for instance, can be tailored
to patient's need of the moment.
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HomMed,
LLC.:
Has recently introduced the Genesis monitor, a lightweight,
stripped-down version of its much larger and complete
Sentry III telemonitoring systems and that can focus on
essential monitoring tasks needed only by patients living
with diabetes. Continuing the streamlined care focus-
this tool provides nursing personnel with daily clinical
knowledge enabling home care visits to be made not on
the basis of anticipated patient need, but on demonstrated
need.
Get
Grounded
Start
thinking about what can be done to invest our time and energies
in telediabetes productively. 85% of disease management is
education-for ourselves, and for our patients. We provide
recommended reading on these topics right
here. |
Telediabetes
Care Delivery Needs
Resources for Caregivers
Two
programs share details online for targeting diabetes information
to multicultural and other varied needs way beyond any individual's
know-how. Take a look at these efforts.
- The
Utah
Telehealth Network, provides the monthly Diabetes Brown
Bag Lunch Series, with topics ranging from the usual concerns
with foot and wound care to segments on fad diets, alternative
medicine, and both Latino and Native American traditional
medicine.
- The
University of Washington provides extensive online multicultural
information on beliefs, practices, and foodways at www.Ethnomed.org
of first generation Americans from Cambodia, China, Ethopia,
and elsewhere, who are living with diabetes Of particular
interest may be resources to help patients with food choices
- pictures and quantities of diabetically correct plates
for people of different cultures are provided along with
a great deal of material about cultural lifestyles of the
patients', all of which can help nurses work well with patients
from other cultures-and stopping way short of hiring a culturally
diverse, multilingual staff.
Look
Homeward….
Three
experts in home health planning and delivery address the question:
What do
you think is particularly valuable about telehealth contact
for management of diabetes of patients over the long term?
Click here
Please
join Linda Pearce, RN, C, BSN, MEd, CDE, Joan Haizlip, RN,
CS, MS, and Mark Braunstein, MD, for views on and strategies
for making telediabetes "work. |
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