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Diabetes is one of this country's greatest healthcare challenges. Diabetes is a disease that occurs when a body isn't able to make enough insulin or is unable to properly use insulin. There are two main types of diabetes - Type 1 can occur when a person's pancreas does not produce any insulin and Type 2 can occur when the pancreas either does not produce enough insulin or a person's cells ignore the insulin production. Woman can also get Gestational diabetes, which is a form of glucose intolerance diagnosed during pregnancy.
If diabetes is not taken care of properly, it can lead to serious complications and premature death, but people with this disease, working together with their support network and their health care providers, can take steps to control the disease and lower the risk of complications.
DIABETES FACTS:
Diabetes is among the top five most prevalent diagnoses of home health patients.
- Diabetes affects 25.8 million people 8.3% of the US population.*
- Each year 18.8 million people have been diagnosed with diabetes and seven million people are undiagnosed.*
- Among US residents aged 65 years and older, 10.9 million, or 26.9%, had diabetes in 2010.*
- About 215,000 people younger than 20 years had diabetes (type 1 or type 2) in the US in 2010.*
- About 1.9 million people aged 20 years or older were newly diagnosed with diabetes in 2010 in the US.*
- Diabetes is the seventh leading cause of death in the US.*
*Stats from CDC 2011 Fact Sheet on Diabetes.
Each year, Visiting Nurse Agencies alone care for approximately 600,000 diabetic patients.
By developing and sharing Best Practice models for diabetic disease management, VNAA's goal is to have a broad national impact by empowering homecare agencies and clinicians to improve patient outcomes and satisfaction.
BEST PRACTICE:
Each homecare patient with diabetes should have an individualized diabetes management plan, including: diabetes self-management education (DSME), and mutually agreed upon goals for diabetes care and lifestyle modifications (including smoking cessation, optimization of meal plan, physical activity and body weight). View Diabetes Best Practice Resources...
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WHAT THE HOMECARE CLINICIAN CAN INFLUENCE
The homecare clinicians’ role in assisting patients and families in managing chronic illness is to ensure patient safety and to promote independence in illness management. This involves discovering what a patient or family knows about his or her illness, what he or she wants to change, how ready he or she is to change, and then teaching and coaching him or her on how to integrate those changes into day to day life. This Website provides home healthcare clinicians with the tools they need to help their patients' chronic conditions. Read more about the Origins of home healthcare...
The VNAA Chronic Care Clearinghouse Expert Panel identified seven areas of care:
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