Diabetes - patient education

NICE guidance recommends structured education offered as a group programme for all people with diabetes and/or their carers at and around the time of diagnosis, and then as required on an ongoing basis.
 
These resources were last accessed on 1 November 2012. Some of them are in PDF format - see how to access PDF files.

BMJ: Effectiveness of the Diabetes Education and Self Management for Ongoing and Newly Diagnosed (DESMOND) programme for people with newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes: cluster randomised controlled trial
The aim of this research study published in the British Medical Journal was 'to evaluate the effectiveness of a structured group education programme on biomedical, psychosocial, and lifestyle measures in people with newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes'.

Cochrane Library Database of Systematic Reviews

The above is not necessarily a comprehensive listing of relevant reviews. For further information about Cochrane reviews and how to search for them see How to use the Cochrane Library. 

Desmond
Desmond stands for Diabetes Education and Self Management for Ongoing and Newly Diagnosed and is a collaborative group working together to improve opportunities for learning and support for people with diabetes and the healthcare professionals involved with them. The Desmond programme for people newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes is used widely across the UK. This website provides information about Desmond and associated training and research.

Diabetes UK: Diabetes awareness toolkit
This toolkit is designed to assist key workers in the development of diabetes awareness days and help people to understand diabetes and the complications involved.

Dose Adjustment for Normal Eating (DAFNE)
DAFNE is a skills-based structured education programme in intensive insulin therapy (IIT) delivered by specially trained diabetes specialist nurses and dieticians. This website contains information on the programme for healthcare professionals and for people with type 1 diabetes.

NHS Diabetes (2011) Knowledge & Information Repository: Structured education and diabetes (PDF 424KB)
The purpose of the Knowledge and Information Repository (KIR) is to provide summaries of the latest guidance and important research on specific key topics. 

NICE Pathways: Diabetes overview
This brings together the different guidance published by NICE and has sections on patient education for type 1 and type 2 diabetes.

NICE quality standards: Diabetes in adults; quality statement 1: structured education
NICE quality standards are a set of specific, concise statements that act as markers of high-quality, cost-effective patient care, covering the treatment and prevention of different diseases and conditions. The statement says that "people with diabetes and/or their carers receive a structured educational programme that fulfils the nationally agreed criteria from the time of diagnosis, with annual review and access to ongoing education".