Living with Diabetes: an educational model of care for new onset diabetes

The first year following diagnosis is a critical time for those newly diagnosed with type 1 diabetes and is likely to influence long-term glycaemic control. This paper describes a group education programme, Living with Diabetes (LwD), and reports the outcome data at one year and three years after diagnosis. HbAic was compared with outcomes from the cohort diagnosed during the four years prior to the inception of LwD. We have demonstrated that, in terms of HbAic, the programme achieved outcomes similar to the traditional model with similar staff resources. The LwD pathway required an additional 2.9 hours per patient but HbAic values were consistently lower in those who attended all sessions. The data suggest the need for more concerted attention to engage patients in an ongoing care pathway during the early years following diagnosis. An evaluation of the programme suggested that patients valued the relaxed non-hierarchical nature of the group and the opportunity to share with and ask questions of their peers. Copyright (C) 2013 John Wiley & Sons.