Diabetes educators and the exercise prescription

Abstract

The exercise prescription for patients with diabetes can involve a multitude of tasks, volumes of evidence-based information, and interdisciplinary involvement of the health care professionals concerned with their care. That said, the outcome of all of this time and knowledge may result in no more than a simple walking program for patients to perform. Yet patients deserve nothing less than this collective effort. The potential risks of beginning an exercise program often have to be balanced with the presence of other diseases, diabetes-complications, and medication regimens. With the assistance of trained and informed diabetes educators, patients can be assured, motivated, and confident that they are spending their time effectively and in harmony with their overall diabetes goals. So where can one find a clinical exercise professional who wants to be part of an interdisciplinary team of diabetes educators? To be honest, they are few and far between. There have never been more than a few dozen CDEs who have listed as their primary job either physical therapist or exercise physiologist. Within the greater diabetes community, the challenge is to evaluate the missing links in existing programs and determine if there is a role for such a team member. Programs that now exist without an exercise specialist can look to their institution's cardiopulmonary rehabilitation program or physical therapy department to recruit a clinical exercise professional that could provide DSMT expertise. With mentoring from other diabetes educators, this professional could accumulate the practice experience hours required to move toward the CDE examination, provide an added value to the delivery of the DSMT program, and offer a competitive edge by providing a unique skill set to the team.