Diabetes educator crosses borders

UNMC and Nebraska Medicine’s Sue McLaughlin recently returned from Cairo, Egypt, where she was an invited speaker for several programs concerning diabetes. The title of McLaughlin’s presentation was “Diabetes Care & Education: Overcoming Barriers and Embracing Opportunities.”

With the prevalence of diabetes increasing in the country, Egypt has experienced the effects of poorly controlled diabetes: early mortality and increasing rates of diabetes-related complications.

According to 2012 data from the World Health Organization, diabetes has been recognized as the fourth leading cause of death by non-communicable diseases in Egypt. Also significant, 42 percent of Egyptians with diabetes have experienced early stage diabetes eye disease, with 5 percent of them being classified as being legally blind.

“Diabetes self-management education is an essential component of diabetes management, because diabetes is a chronic illness whose responsibility lies almost completely with the person and his or her caregivers,” McLaughlin said. “Healthy outcomes are possible when medical interventions are individualized, ongoing, and focused on helping the person with diabetes to make behavior changes that promote a healthy lifestyle.”

She pointed to seven self-care behaviors as being crucial for a person to successfully manage diabetes:

• being active;
• healthy eating;
• taking medication;
• monitoring;
• problem solving;
• reducing risks; and
• healthy coping.

McLaughlin is the lead medical nutrition therapist at Nebraska Medicine; staff registered dietitian/certified diabetes educator (RD/CDE) at Children’s Hospital Diabetes and Endocrine Clinic; and adjunct instructor, College of Allied Health Professions and preceptor for the UNMC Dietetic Internship program.

McLaughlin encourages other health professionals to become CDEs.

“Diabetes is a serious disease, increasing in prevalence in this country and around the world,” McLaughlin said. “CDEs have the unique training and clinical experience to teach people with diabetes about their disease and how to manage it successfully, as life changes.

“In the U.S., 29 million people (9.3 percent of the population in 2012) have diabetes,” she said. “According to the National Certification Board for Diabetes Educators, in early 2015, there were 18,800 CDEs in the U.S. — we are woefully ‘understaffed,’ but untiring and committed. Becoming a CDE is one of the most rewarding career choices that a health professional can make in their lifetime. Helping people to understand how to manage their diabetes well is . . . priceless!”