Fletcher Allen earns national certification for diabetes education

The American Diabetes Association has certified that the self-management education program at Fletcher Allen Health Care continues to meet rigorous national quality standards. The determination was made after an on-site audit of all patient education programs provided by Fletcher Allen’s Certified Diabetes Educators.
Studies have shown that patients who participate in self-management programs led by Certified Diabetes Educators see more improvement in their condition than those who do not.
Diabetes care at Fletcher Allen is provided by a multidisciplinary team of certified educators, endocrinologists, nurse practitioners and dieticians who work together to help patients make and maintain the necessary lifestyle changes to combat their condition. Those changes include getting regular physical activity, eating a healthy diet, maintaining a healthy weight, and controlling blood pressure and cholesterol levels. In addition, patients are required to carefully monitor blood sugar levels and perform injections of insulin several times daily.
‘Effective education is essential in successfully managing this disease because patients have to do a lot of things to care for themselves,’said Joel Schnure, M.D., medical director of Endocrinology and Diabetes at Fletcher Allen and an associate professor at the UVM College of Medicine. ‘We’re very pleased that the ADA has recognized the high quality of our program which results from the dedication our certified educators bring to our patients every day.’
An estimated 20 million Americans have diabetes and it is a growing and expensive problem that experts say threatens to overwhelm the healthcare system. In Vermont approximately 8% of the population is afflicted with the disease, about double the rate reported in 2000.