DESMOND Diabetes Education
Based on a solid bed of evidence, diabetes structured education provides a blueprint to maximise the precious contact time between a healthcare professional and their patient – ensuring the person can leave with an agreed set of goals addressing their needs, which are based on their test results.
In short, it is a session delivered in a group setting that allows peer collaboration, providing people with diabetes, their family, and their carers with the ability, knowledge and confidence to self-manage the long-term condition.
Diabetes education became formally recognised in 2003 as part of a government mandate called the National Service Framework for Diabetes, which was published alongside NICE guidance. NICE recommends that access to diabetes structured education programmes should be offered to all patients who are deemed at high risk of diabetes, when they are diagnosed and thereafter as appropriate.
The Diabetes Education and Self-Management for Ongoing and Newly Diagnosed (DESMOND) Programme was the first education programme developed by the Leicester Diabetes Centre in response to the Diabetes National Service Framework.
The DESMOND Programme offers training and quality assurance for healthcare professionals and lay educators to deliver any of the DESMOND modules and toolkits to people in their local communities.
The programme meets all of the quality components set out by NICE in Quality Statement 2: Structured education programmes for adults with Type 2 diabetes.
The DESMOND Programme:
is evidence-based, and suits the needs of the person.
has specific aims and learning objectives, and supports the person and their family members and carers in developing attitudes, beliefs, knowledge and skills to self-manage diabetes.
has a structured curriculum that is theory-driven, evidence-based and resource-effective, has supporting materials, and is written down.
is delivered by trained educators who have an understanding of educational theory appropriate to the age and needs of the person, and who are trained and competent to deliver the principles and content of the programme.
is quality assured, and reviewed by trained, competent, independent assessors who measure it against criteria that ensure consistency.
Regularly audits the outcomes.
Overall, more than 350,000 people have graduated from this gold-standard Type 2 Structured Education Programme and we have trained about 1,300 DESMOND Educators. The modules have been adapted so they can be delivered to Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) communities using interpreters and specialist visual tools. It is now commissioned by more than 90 trusts across the UK and has been exported across the world to places including Ireland, Gibraltar, Australia, New Zealand and the Middle East.
The DESMOND Programme is constantly evolving, with its key philosophy of empowering patients at the heart of an expanding portfolio of modules and programmes covering prevention of Type 2 diabetes to supporting people with learning difficulties. Examples of additions to the DESMOND family include Walking Away and Let’s Prevent Diabetes.
To find out more about DESMOND go to www.desmond-programme.org.uk