Improving the quality of diabetes care in residential and nursing homes: The importance of education

Abstract

Wherever elderly individuals with diabetes reside, whether at home, in a residential home or in a nursing home, they deserve to have good‐quality, structured care provided by carers who have the relevant knowledge and skills. In order to achieve this carers need ongoing education and training. The evidence suggests that diabetes care in residential and nursing homes is varied and standards need to be improved. The literature points to education and training for care home staff as a central tenet to increasing the quality of diabetes care. This article reports the outcome of a collaborative approach to diabetes education and demonstrates that increased awareness in diabetes care is actively sought by staff working in residential and nursing homes. The teaching sessions reported were positively evaluated and demonstrated an increase in the knowledge of the participants. It is envisaged that this will be reflected in improved quality of diabetes care for elderly people. The author discusses the need to ensure that education and training is ongoing and recommends that policy makers, both at a national and local level, embrace the evidence and facilitate this process.

Citation

Styles, J. (2003), "Improving the quality of diabetes care in residential and nursing homes: The importance of education", Quality in Ageing and Older Adults, Vol. 4 No. 1, pp. 4-11. https://doi.org/10.1108/14717794200300002