How to Teach a Patient With Type 2 Diabetes

Digested food enters the bloodstream as glucose, and the pancreas normally produces insulin to move glucose into cells for energy. Diabetes is marked by chronic high blood sugar---the pancreas does not produce enough insulin, the cells do not respond to insulin or both. The American Diabetes Association estimated in 2007 that 7.8 percent of Americans, or 23.6 million people, have diabetes. Type 2 diabetes is characterized by cellular resistance to insulin and inadequate production of insulin by the pancreas. Chronic high blood sugar causes a multitude of health problems, so patients need to be taught how to manage their condition.

Instructions

• 1

  Ask your patient what he knows about his health and what he can anticipate in the future. Is he a newly diagnosed diabetic, has he had this condition for years and are there any co-existing health problems? This information will allow you to tailor your teaching accordingly.

• 2

  Determine the patient's developmental level and the highest level of education achieved. Teaching an adolescent is very different from teaching a middle-aged attorney or an elderly person who never finished high school.

• 3

  Check for learning barriers. Chronic high blood sugar can damage the nerves of the eyes---vision may become blurry, and it can be difficult to focus on objects---so make sure the patient has adequate eyesight before you present handouts with small print. Ask if she has peripheral neuropathy, a painful numbing or tingling sensation in the hands or feet. Moderate to severe neuropathy can be annoying distractions while the patient is trying to learn.

• 4

  Ask your patient if there is someone, such as a parent, spouse or friend, who can accompany him when you are teaching. If you are demonstrating a task that requires fine motor skills, like checking blood sugar or giving insulin injections, it's wise to have someone present who can help him at home in case he forgets a step. Practice with your patient, and ask him to do a demonstration to ensure that he can perform the task.

• 5

  Reinforce the information you've presented by giving handouts that the patient can refer to at home. Depending on her educational level and the complexity of the information, handouts can be mostly diagrams or text.

• 6

  Provide a phone number that the patient can call if he has any questions while he is at home. This may be the number of the clinic, the physician or the education office.