Diabetes Education Toolkit

Access The Diabetes Toolkit

About the Toolkit

The Diabetes Education Toolkit is an online resource that provides information to help people with mental health conditions understand and manage their diabetes or pre-diabetic condition. The toolkit includes an extensive library of materials and podcasts covering the basics of diabetes, building and maintaining a healthy lifestyle, recommended medical tests and how to interpret results, and managing the risks of diabetes. Also included is a chart of American Diabetes Association (ADA) standards of care with educational information for each standard.

Who can use it?

This online toolkit is for people who have a mental health condition, their medical and behavioral health care providers, supporters, and other caregivers. If you’re a peer or non-peer behavioral health care provider new to diabetes, this will give you the knowledge you need to educate the people you serve. If you have diabetes, you can use the toolkit to learn how to better manage your health and mental health. If you’re a primary care provider, you can use materials from the toolkit to better educate your patients and become more knowledgeable about the intersection of mental health and diabetes.

How does it work?

Using the toolkit starts with the principle that diabetes education should be ongoing and dynamic, addressing patients’ immediate concerns. Also important is enhancing patients’ sense of control through new knowledge, skills, and behaviors. After engaging patients in a discussion of their current needs related to diabetes, service providers can introduce the patient to the toolkit online, sitting together at the computer. The service provider starts by relating the patient’s need to a treatment standard. For example, patients having trouble with their vision could learn about the importance of the annual dilated retinal eye exam. By clicking on the standard, they would then link to the Eye Health page to see related materials in the Diabetes Library, such as a brochure on how to prepare for a dilated eye exam. A second option is to bypass the care standards and go directly to the Diabetes Library so that people with diabetes or pre-diabetic conditions can directly explore relevant resources for their self-identified needs. A third option, based on recent lab values or the need for a specific exam or referral, is to access relevant educational materials for use at current or later visits.

If you’re a person with diabetes or a pre-diabetic condition using the toolkit on your own, we recommend working your way through each of its sections to get a general idea of the content. First, read about its purpose and what people are saying about it. Next, go to the Diabetes Library and read some of the titles. Then, review the ADA Standards of Care to learn about each standard and why it’s important. Finally, review the podcast titles and descriptions. Once you’ve learned what’s available, you can follow up on a topic or care standard. When you’re ready to use the toolkit resources, try starting with one simple goal or step toward improved health.

Toolkit content includes a Diabetes Library with 50 single-page handouts that can be read online or printed, 5 podcasts on diabetes and related topics, a chart summarizing 9 ADA care standards linked to 9 information pages that, in turn, link directly to relevant handouts and podcasts. The educational content for this toolkit is written at a grade school reading level.

What resources are needed?

You will need access to the Internet in order to read the toolkit’s information. A printer and copier will be necessary if you want to download and print the materials for distribution. To listen to the podcasts, you will need a computer, smart phone, or MP3 player.

Preparing to use the Toolkit

Anyone with Internet access can use the Diabetes Education Toolkit. Helpful preparation tips include:

1. Review the entire toolkit before deciding which resources to access first.

2. If you’re a service recipient using the toolkit on your own, consider involving at least one person who will support you in this process.

3. Start with a diabetes management goal that addresses your or your service recipient’s immediate concerns by acquiring knowledge, skills, or new behaviors.

4. Given its strong basis in research evidence, keep the ADA standards of care in mind when determining whether medical tests, assessments, or services may be needed.

5. Remember that toolkit information should not to be used in place of instructions or advice from a licensed medical practitioner.

Free Diabetes Registry

Download a simple Diabetes Registry in Microsoft Excel that you can adapt according to your needs.