INTRODUCTION

“EDUCATING PARTNERS IN CARE”  (EPIC) 

Learning successful self-care enables the patient to participate as a partner with the diabetes team in assuring appropriate and standard diabetes care.  This is a major goal of this diabetes self-management education course and reflected in the title, “Educating Partners in Care” (EPIC).  EPIC primarily targets persons with a recent diagnosis of type 2 diabetes.  However, persons with established diabetes who have inadequate knowledge of diabetes and/or need to improve their self-care may also benefit. 

EPIC provides comprehensive knowledge and skills in type 2 diabetes, covering the ten topics required for diabetes self-management education by national recognition and reimbursement programs.  

EPIC is provided in two group sessions and three individual sessions.   

The initial group session is a three-hour class that provides content on what is diabetes and diabetes care and an over view of the EPIC Program.  It also introduces the use of the Self-Blood Glucose Monitoring  (SBGM)System as a learning tool and teaches basic home testing skills.  The second group session, Session Four, is a six-hour class.  In the morning, various members of the diabetes team provide interactive information on regular diabetes follow up, annual monitoring and complication care according to their associated areas of  care.  In the afternoon, the dietitian and nurse educators provide opportunities to practice self-management information and skills.   

Two of the three individual sessions provides an opportunity for individual education needs assessment.  These two sessions also provide opportunities to work with participants in goal setting, problem-solving and specifying patient-selected plans in nutrition, exercise and in selecting and improving clinical targets.  Session Two is provided by the nurse educator and Session Three is provided by the dietitian educator.   

The last individual session, Session Five, provides an opportunity for participants to review what they have learned and to identify how their own actions and clinical care have affected clinical targets set in initial sessions.  The “EPIC Diabetes Self-Management Log” that is introduced and completed in Session Five, provides written information on the participant’s health status, complication stages, current medicines and team resources.  This logbook includes tools that facilitate the participants to activate knowledge and skills obtained in the EPIC program to begin their partnership roles in diabetes care.

Follow up of the EPIC Program is encouraged at least once in 3-6 months and once again in 6 to 12 months following completion of the program.  This is done in an educational encounter or by phone.

A program outline is provided below.

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