A certified diabetes educator may be involved to teach you details on how to care for your type 2 diabetes The CDE is the patients guide to learning the tools and techniques to self manage their diabetes My primary responsibility is to help the patient identify what their learning needs are and then I help determne what their goals are What can my CDE provide for me? To work closely with the patient and provide education Teaching them primarily how to do self management The whole purpose for managing diabetes is so the patient feels better and has more energy Thats the ultimate goal for all patients Thats the goal of the team So the role of the certified diabetes educator or CDE is to connect the dots Between the doctor, pharmacy, glucometer, nutritionist All kinds of information that the patient gets that must be put together to successfully manage their disease What would a visit with my CDE look like? An initial visit with a CDE is an individual visit where the patient learns skills They are often taught how to use a glucometer and what their blood sugar target is We talk about general things about diabetes What is diabetes? The treatment for diabetes The medications Healthy eating Increasing physical activity Subsequent visits are often in a group setting Patients learn not just blood sugar monitoring and targets But also about nutrition, exercise, behavioral change We also develop a plan of care for the patient based on the patients desires With diabetes knowledge really is power Education really is key It is important to partner with your Certified Diabetes Educator to get all the information that you need You can do it You can do it Connect the dots Offers practical tips for health Equips with tools and techniques