Hello to all. I hope everyone has been enjoying their summer…otherwise known as the rainy season here in Pittsburgh. It’s hard to believe that fall is almost here and school is about to start. Here at WPADE, we’ve been working on the September conference in conjunction with UPMC. The program is titled: Diabetes Prevention and Care 2004. Intervene Now. We hope that you will be able to attend. This is a two day continuing education offering that is sure to provide you with new ideas and information on promoting quality care and education for your patients with diabetes. We are also working on a spring conference perhaps dealing with behavior change and/or women and diabetes. More details will follow. Hopefully, you were able to complete the continuing education questionnaire sent out in June. We were looking for feed back on your needs for future educational sessions. The results received will guide us in our planning.
The annual AADE conference was held in Indianapolis this year. It was chock full of great sessions, dynamic speakers, and fun evening events. Some of the highlights of the conference included general sessions on diabetes and heart disease prevention, America’s obesity crisis, health literacy and diabetes, and a look at diabetes from a public health perspective.
One of the other hot topics was the introduction to the AADE 7 Self-Care Behaviors. These 7 Self Care Behaviors were identified from the AADE Diabetes Outcomes Measurement Project and are the core of diabetes education and care. The self care behaviors serve as an educator’s guide in caring for patients with a chronic disease. Stay tuned for more information.
Finally, I am again asking for assistance and more participation from our members. Your board members volunteer their time (some of them for years) to continue the goals and ideals of WPADE. WE NEED YOUR HELP! Please see HOT TOPICS for more information.
Respectfully submitted,
Deb Kulbacki RN, MSN,CDE
