A kind and sincere request when considering diabetes care provider language…
On behalf of DHF, sharing this note received, what are your experiences and thoughts…
From Hope Warshaw, President of the AADE…
Dear Fellow Diabetes Advocates –
You all continue to amaze me in your passion and your energy to advocate for diabetes causes and concerns. As a strong advocate for your community and as 2016 president of the American Association of Diabetes Educators I want to bring your attention to a point and request you consider more inclusive language regarding diabetes care providers.
Generally speaking, the community collectively often singles out physicians (or “doctors”). Yet, I think you’ll agree that diabetes educators, across our numerous disciplines, are valued and valuable diabetes healthcare providers. I think you’ll also agree that diabetes educators can play important roles in helping people with diabetes and their care givers manage diabetes. This includes selecting the ideal diabetes device based on individual lifestyle needs and personal preference, whether a glucose meter, CGM, or insulin pump. Once people have a diabetes device in hand diabetes educators can, when provided with the opportunity (and that’s not nearly often enough), help people learn how to use these tools to maximize glycemic control along with achieving a high quality of life. Additionally, we help people learn how to download data and utilize it to observe trends to make further tweaks to improve glycemic control. And, last but not least, diabetes educators complete many of those required forms whether they’re for school, sports or to deal with insurance claim denials. We also often serve as a member of your cheerleading squad or lend an ear when you need it.
I, and my fellow diabetes educators, would greatly appreciate you including us and valuing our important role in diabetes care in your writing. I’ll suggest you use the term diabetes health care providers, but I’m open to other inclusive language as well as dialoging on this topic.
Thanks for considering this request,
Hope Warshaw