The diabetes education team in the management of non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus.
Non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) is a complex disease that lasts a lifetime. It can be controlled but not cured. Treatment involves extensive changes in the patient's lifestyle, particularly in the areas of diet and exercise, which can often result in noncompliance with treatment regimens. Efforts to bring about these lifestyle changes usually require an enormous amount of time and attention on the part of the physician, and thus, are best carried out with the help of a diabetes education team. An ideal team would consist not only of the physician, patient, and family, but also a diabetes educator, a nutritionist or dietitian, an exercise therapist, a psychologist or social worker, a podiatrist, and an ophthalmologist or retinologist. A smaller number of team participants can offer a viable alternative by doubling up discipline areas, and by using interested members of the community as a referral source.
D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2; D006801:Humans; D008019:Life Style; D010348:Patient Care Team; D010353:Patient Education as Topic / Q000379:methods*