Diabetes Education Study Group

Chairman's Report 2004-2005

2004 - 2005   CHAIRMAN'S REPORT Prof. Aldo Maldonato, September 2005 On the occasion of the 29th Meeting of the General Committee of the Diabetes Education Study Group of the EASD, I am very glad to be able once again to thank Servier, for their generous continued unconditional support to our Study Group. In particular, I wish to thank Dr Jean-Philippe Seta, Chief Executive Officer, Dr Laurence Alliot, Director of the Medical Affairs Department, and Dr Sylvain Gaudron, Director of International Scientific Communication. I am also very grateful to the members of the Executive Committee: Dr Alain Golay (the Vice President), Ms Despina Varakla (the Honorary Secretary), Dr Ilana Harman-Boehm (the Honorary Treasurer), Dr Andrew Brooks (the Director of Educational Strategies), Dr Rudolf Chlup, and Ms Barbara Semlitsch. My warmest thanks also to Ms Annamaria Teofili, in the Rome secretariat. Since the last General Committee meeting, Munich, September 2004, a Workshop of the General Committee has been held, and new Teaching Letters have been published. WORKSHOP OF THE GENERAL COMMITTEE MEMBERS A Workshop entitled “Therapeutic patient Education in the Empowerment Perspective” was held in Assisi, Italy, from 22 to 27 January, 2005. The participants were 50 - in majority members of the DESG General and Executive Committees - coming from 30 Countries: Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Malta, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Serbia and Montenegro, Spain, Switzerland, UK, and USA. During the meeting, the narrative approach through the use of autobiography was presented as a new formative tool for both health professionals and patients. The participants experienced this approach, and reports of both this experience and of its use with adolescents in summer camps were given. Also the empowerment approach was presented and implemented in three workshops by Bob Anderson. Main lectures were devoted to an update of our knowledge of the role of exercise, techniques for COH counting, and insulin treatment with different devices, and group works on relevant educational strategies were performed. Jean-Philippe Assal presented his movie on the teaching of gondola rowing. The participants experienced during a few days insulin injection, SBGM and CHO counting, and a report of their comments was presented at the end of the meeting. During a special lecture, Marco Peruffo, the second person with Type 1 diabetes to reach the top of a 8000 m mountain, mount Cho-Oyu, without oxygen bottles and without high altitude porters, told participants his life history. A comprehensive report of the workshop was recorded on CD, with all the lectures, the pictures of Metaplan boards with group-work results, the improvisation on stage by Bob Anderson about empowerment and exercise, and pictures taken during the workshop. A copy has been given to all participants. PUBLICATION AND UPDATE OF TEACHING LETTERS Two Teaching Letters have been produced this year: No.31 entitled ‘Approaching the Parents of a Child with Diabetes Mellitus’ (update) No.32 entitled ‘Starting on insulin: a three-day teaching programme’ (update) The next to be published will be chosen among the original Teaching Letters which have not yet been updated: ‘Nutrition for the child and adolescent’ (update) ‘Preparing for of conception, pregnancy and delivery’ (update) These Teaching Letters have been or will be produced with the help of the current sponsor, Servier, and all DESG members will receive copies. They, as well as other DESG productions, are available for consultation and free download on the DESG Website, in Acrobat (.pdf) format. PATIENT EDUCATION BASICS A collection of the 18 documents published so far was published last year as a 20 page booklet entitled ‘You Have Type 2 Diabetes: Meaning and Implications’. It is an easy-to-use comprehensive educational tool for the Health Professional wishing to educate the person with type 2 diabetes, but who is unable to find time for a thorough systematic approach. Also this document will soon join the whole series of Patient Education Basics on the DESG Website, becoming available for consultation and free download in Acrobat (.pdf) format. DESG WEBSITE The DESG Website, created by a DESG working group, and officially opened on September 1st, 1999, has completed its sixth year of activity. Its updating and management of feed-backs are performed directly by our secretariat. As before, both the General Committee members' list and the complete list of members are in a restricted area of the site, accessible to members only. The majority of the site is still open and offers a source of information, publications, education tools, and a variety of material produced either by the DESG or by others in the field of therapeutic patient education. In particular, the DESG Teaching Letters, 5-minute survival kit, and Patient Education Basics are published in the “materials” section. UPDATED LIST OF MEMBERS The updated list consists of 854 members from 85 countries. This list is available in the members’ area of the DESG Website, as well as the list of the General Committee members. The current number of national representatives in the General Committee is 58 and the represented countries are 30. For privacy reasons, only the names and contact information of the Executive Committee members can be in the DESG Website viewed by the general public. PARTICIPATION IN PROFESSIONAL TRAINING AND AWARDS Participation in Grimentz Workshops ‘Grimentz Seminars’ represent a unique occasion for in-depth thinking on the specificity of long-term follow-up, and the interactive learning of specific educational skills. The DESG once again provided the funding for a few members’ participation in these workshops, which this year again were held in Zinal, Valais (CH). The first one, 11-16 June 2005, was organised by Dr Alain Golay, chair of the Division of Therapeutic Education for Chronic Diseases, Department of Internal Medicine, Geneva University Hospital. The seminar was entitled “Comprendre le patient:s’ajuster dans la relation”. The DESG covered registration and accommodation expenses of one participant. The second one, 24-29 September 2005, is being organized by Prof. Jean-Philippe Assal, Fondation Éducation & Recherche pour L’enseignement Thérapeutique des Maladies, Geneva. It is entitled “Les Arts & l’Art de soigner. Décoder les messages cachés, indicibles pour améliorer l’art de soigner et d’accompagner”. The DESG will cover registration and accommodation expenses for four participants. DESG awards In order to encourage research in the field of therapeutic patient education, two 600.00 Euro awards have been assigned by the DESG to the best abstracts accepted to the 41st EASD Meeting, Athens, and one 600.00 Euro award to the best abstract accepted to the 10th FEND Conference. The choice has been made by a DESG commission. As in previous years, the awarded papers will be published on the DESG website. DESG CONSTITUTION The DESG constitution, originally written in 1979, was updated in 1996 and 1999. Last year the EASD Board asked to all the Study Groups to modify their Constitution according to common criteria. According to the given criteria, we added to the DESG Constitution that all members of the Executive Committee must be EASD members, and that they shall not be eligible for immediate re-election. We took the occasion to increase the maximum possible number of EC members from eight to nine. PRESENCE AT THE EASD CONGRESS Joint DESG-PSAD Symposium The anticipated joint DESG-PSAD Symposium could not take place this year, and will eventually be organized during one of the next EASD Meetings. Stand Like in previous years, a DESG office will be open during the EASD Congress, hosted at the Servier stand. DESG materials and information are available there. SPONSORSHIP OF THE DESG The generous support of Servier has been confirmed for the next years and continues to be of utmost importance to this Study Group. In addition to the already mentioned Servier Board, I wish to thank particularly dr Bertrand Renaud, Dr Thierry Hénane, and dr Jean-Francois Mocho, who have represented a motivated and capable partnership for the DESG in the last years. FUTURE ACTIVITIES Implementation of the DESG Curriculum. Based on the needs expressed by the HCPs, and the modular structure proposed by the DESG, several Step 3 Curriculum implementations have taken place or are being planned in several countries. So far we are aware of Step 3 implementations of the DESG Curriculum in UAE, Austria, Israel, Italy (done in 2003-04 and 2004-05, planned for 2006). New Teaching Letters will be published. The DESG Website will keep being used as a very functional tool for patient education and communication for the health care providers involved in diabetes therapeutic education. The promotion of research and training in therapeutic patient education will be continued, also by means of grants and awards. The DESG will play a role in the organisation of “Therapeutic Patient Education 2006: Patient-centred Self-management Education and Long-term Follow-up Strategies in Diabetes and Other Chronic Diseases” which will take place in Florence, April 27-30, 2006. Preliminary information on the Congress is available at www.kenes.com/tpe2006. DESG PRESIDENCY As you know I became President of the DESG in 1998, replacing Jean-Philippe Assal. At the end of my four-year term I was asked to stay for a second term, and I willingly accepted mainly because I was eager to develop the potentiality of the newly created Website. At the end of my eighth year of presidency I wish to thank all the colleagues and friends who have contributed to make every single day of this term a stimulating and enriching experience. A special thank to my co-workers in Rome, Donatella Bloise and Alessandra Baldelli, without whom much of what has been done would not have been possible. Last year I introduced Dr José Boavida as the new candidate to the DESG Presidency. I therefore welcome him to this office, and wish him a fruitful and successful presidency. Prof. Aldo MALDONATO President, Diabetes Education Study Group September, 2005

 

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