How to Use the Toolkit

The toolkit provides easy-to-understand patient education materials that have been cross-walked with American Diabetes Association care standards. Your goal in using the Toolkit is to relate its content to your patients’ health needs and goals. Keep in mind the principle that diabetes education should be ongoing and dynamic, addressing immediate concerns and enhancing patients’ sense of control through acquisition of knowledge, skills, and behaviors. If you are a care provider, start by reading the Toolkit in its entirety and listening to the podcasts so that you become familiar with each care standard and its related resources. If you’re a behavioral health care provider just learning about diabetes, this will give you the knowledge you need to educate your client. If you are a patient, you can skip to the bottom section to learn how to use the Toolkit on your own if you wish.

Using the Toolkit with Patients in Health & Behavioral Health Care Settings

Sit with the patient at the computer to introduce the Toolkit and its purpose. Explain that the Toolkit contains information about diabetes that is designed for easy understanding. Then engage your patient in a discussion of his or her current needs related to diabetes. After helping the patient self-identify a need, there are two routes you can take in exploring the Toolkit. One is to introduce the notion of diabetes care standards, explaining that they are based on medical evidence about what tests, exams, and treatments best help people with diabetes to be healthy. Next, click on the “ADA Standards” tab of the Toolkit, and review with the patient the standard that most closely corresponds with his or her need. After reviewing information about the standard, why it is important, its time frame, and treatment goal, click on the standard to go to a page with standard-specific links to the Toolkit’s Diabetes Library. That page also gives the standard-specific treatment goal (e.g., A1C < 7 or blood pressure < 130/80) which allows you to introduce this benchmark to your patient. If you’re not in a medical setting, work with your client and his/her medical provider to obtain the test and exam results for each standard, and record them in the “Diabetes Passport” which you can download from the Diabetes Library. The second option is to click on the “Patient Education” tab to go directly to the Diabetes Library and bypass the Standards. Once in the Library, you and your patient can find the resource that most closely addresses the patient’s need. If that resource is a handout, read and discuss its content with your patient. Then, print it out for the patient to take home and potentially share with others. If it is a pod cast, help your patient access the recording (a transcript is provided for hearing impaired individuals) and discuss its content afterward. At the patient’s next visit, briefly review the education content from the previous visit. Then ask whether patients have another need they would like to address, or would like to learn about another care standard. Or, based on the patient’s lab values or need for a specific exam or referral, click on the “Patient Education,” “ADA Standards,” or “Podcast” tab to access the related educational materials and/or care standards.

Using the Toolkit to Improve Your Own Diabetes Self-Care

To get started, we recommend working your way through each of the Toolkit’s tabs to get a general idea of its content. First, click on the tab labeled “Toolkit” to read about its purpose and what people are saying about it. Next, click on the “Patient Education” tab to go to the Diabetes Library and see the titles of all the handouts available. Then, click on the “ADA Standards” tab and read the first column of each standard to learn what it is and why it’s important. Finally, click on the “Podcasts” tab and read each title and short description to see if any are of interest. Now that you’ve learned what’s in the Toolkit, decide whether you want to go to the Library, Podcasts, or Standards pages to follow up on a specific topic of interest or learn more about a care standard. If you see something of interest, click on it to learn more. When you’re ready to use the Toolkit resources, try starting with one goal or step toward improved health. You can add more goals as you develop new skills and knowledge. When choosing a goal, experts say that it’s best to start small, with something you know you can manage. For example, instead of trying to eat healthy or exercise all the time, start by adding one healthy meal to your day or adding 100 extra steps on the weekend. Also try to relate what you choose from the Toolkit to something else you want to achieve in your life. For example, you can lose weight not only to manage your diabetes, but also to play with your children or grandchildren. Or, you can decide to be more active not only for diabetes management, but also to get ready for a new job that involves greater physical activity. Getting or staying healthy takes effort, but the more reasons you have, the more likely you are to succeed. We wish you the best on your journey to wellness. You should also feel free to tell your health care provider about the Toolkit and ask that he or she use it with you if you like.

About the Toolkit

This Toolkit is a collaboration between academic programs at the University of Illinois at Chicago, a community mental health program, and people in recovery from mental health challenges. Toolkit collaborators include the UIC Department of Psychiatry (Jessica Jonikas, Judith Cook, Andrew Batteiger, Asma Jami, Crystal Glover, Joni Weidenaar); the UIC College of Nursing (Sue Braun, Emily Brigell, Kathy Christiansen); and Thresholds Psychiatric Rehabilitation Centers (Kristin Davis, Katy Dobbins, Ron Otto). Spanish language translations were contributed by Emma Villarreal, Marisol Vega, and Claudia Cortez. The Toolkit was created as part of a research project using an electronic diabetes registry and care coordination to improve outcomes of patients with diabetes and psychiatric disabilities. Learn more about diabetes registries.