Diabetes Education for People with Diabetes

Diabetes education can be life-changing for people with diabetes

People with diabetes spend only three hours a year with a healthcare professional on average. For the remaining 8,757 hours, they manage their diabetes themselves.

Diabetes is a complex and challenging condition. People need the skills and confidence to cope with the daily demands of self-management and avoid devastating complications.

Diabetes education (sometimes called structured education) is key to successful day-to-day diabetes management and can be life-changing for people with diabetes:

“Going on the course took the worry away. It reduced my HbA1c. It reduced my cholesterol. I lost three stone in weight. My blood pressure came down and is perfectly normal for my age. Now I understand the condition.”
Malcolm, living with Type 2 diabetes

“The understanding and education I gained has helped me continuously since completing the course. My HbA1c has dropped from 8.3 to 6.9 and is now within the recommended range. I feel more in control of my own life.”
Charlotte, living with Type 1 diabetes

Learn more about how you can support people with diabetes to engage with diabetes education

The Cambridge Diabetes Education Programme (CDEP) has a FREE topic for professionals on diabetes education, which over 3,300 people have already completed. Feedback is very positive:

"Useful for clinicians to review how they approach patients regarding motivating self-care when appointment times are so short."
“Education and encouragement empower patients to understand and take a more active part in managing diabetes."

Learn more