Melanie Cole, MS (Host): Welcome to Bryan Health Podcast. I'm Melanie Cole. And today we have Samantha Beckler. She's a Certified Diabetes Care and Education Specialist with Bryan Diabetes Center. And she's here to tell us about diabetes education today. Samantha, thank you so much for joining us.

I'd like you to start by telling us a little bit about yourself, your experience with Bryan, with diabetes and how long you've been doing diabetes education.

Samantha Beckler, RN, MSN, CDCES, CPT: Thanks for having me. I am a Registered Nurse and I have been a Registered Nurse for over 25 years. I have been with the Bryan organization for over 20. I have been doing diabetes education as a Registered Nurse for the past eight years. I have enjoyed helping many people with Type 2 diabetes, Type 1 diabetes, and helping them start insulin pumps.

Host: Thank you for sharing that. So what is diabetes education?

Samantha Beckler, RN, MSN, CDCES, CPT: Diabetes education is a way to help people with diabetes learn about their disease more than just how to eat and how not to eat, but how to navigate all types of situations they may occur. Diabetes is a disease that affects every decision we make throughout the day. And so giving them more information about that has proven to be very helpful for them.

Host: Well it certainly has. So who is diabetes education for? Who fits the profile for this type of help?

Samantha Beckler, RN, MSN, CDCES, CPT: The recommendation for diabetes education by multiple organizations, including the American Diabetes Association, the Family Physicians Association, the Dietetic Association, about 10 organizations agree that diabetes education should be done when you're diagnosed, annually when you're not meeting your treatment needs or your targets, when complications develop, and when life transitions occur, such as changing jobs, changing homes, that kind of thing.

Host: Well thank you for telling us who it's for and a good time to get it. Now what about the benefits? Tell us a little bit about what it entails.

Samantha Beckler, RN, MSN, CDCES, CPT: First and foremost, it helps reduce the blood sugars or the A1Cs. It also reduces mortality. By research, it reduces hypoglycemia. It reduces emergency department visits. Helps weight management, helps people feel empowered with their diabetes and decreases diabetes related distress and improves quality of life.

Host: What is it like?

Samantha Beckler, RN, MSN, CDCES, CPT: An appointment is more than one session, usually. We explain what causes diabetes for that person, because everybody's is a little bit different. We explain what's happening inside the body that makes the blood sugars go up and down. We explain what the targets are, what keeps people with diabetes safe. We also explain how we can make their recipe right with the right foods, the right activity, and the right medicines for them because everybody's recipe is a little bit different when it comes to being able to get to the target. Some people can't exercise. Some people aren't able to change their meals much.

So helping them cope and get to the right targets. We also talk about how to navigate difficulties such as when you're sick and you can't take your medicines properly or when you travel. And of course, how to navigate complications if you were to have them or how to prevent them, because most of them are preventable.

Host: It's such an important and comprehensive way to help with management for people living with diabetes. If someone wants to be involved in diabetes education, how do they go about doing that?

Samantha Beckler, RN, MSN, CDCES, CPT: In order to get involved, most insurances do cover diabetes education as a benefit, but you would need your diabetes doctor, whether it be your primary care doctor or somebody who is a specialist, to order diabetes education and send it to a diabetes education team.

Host: Why don't you tell us, Samantha, about the Bryan Diabetes Center? Tell us about your team. Tell us about the center itself and everyone who's involved.

Samantha Beckler, RN, MSN, CDCES, CPT: So the Bryan Diabetes Center is a team of 15 diabetes educators. We are spanned across several different locations, some being in primary care, some being at the Complete Endocrinology Office, which is a specialist office, some being at the Bryan LifePointe facility still. Those particular educators can see patients from any office.

Also, we have some educators that are at the hospital to help people navigate diabetes inside the hospital because it's a very scary time of their lives.

Host: Samantha, this is such great information. As we get ready to wrap up, please tell listeners what you would like them to know about the importance of diabetes education, the help and support that you can offer, and why it's so important that they manage and control their diabetes.

Samantha Beckler, RN, MSN, CDCES, CPT: Diabetes is an epidemic in the United States. It is something that we are able to take care of our entire lives if we take good care of our diabetes and pay attention to it because paying attention to it is the key to not having bad outcomes happen such as amputations and kidney failure.

Diabetes education is a way to help you know how to navigate that and how to take care of yourself. Our sessions are generally 30 minutes to an hour at a time, and we are your best advocates to help you take care of yourself.

Host: That's wonderful, Samantha. Thank you so much for joining us today and giving us such great information, and Bryan offers several physician clinics that provide comprehensive diabetes care for patients. At these clinics, patients receive coordinated care important to diabetes management that includes their provider, as well as certified diabetes educators, registered dietitians, social workers, care navigators, and pharmacists. Bryan also offers diabetes education for the community overall.

To learn more, please visit bryanhealth.org/diabetes. That concludes this episode of Bryan Health Podcast. Please always remember to subscribe, rate, and review Bryan Health Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart, and Pandora. I'm Melanie Cole. Thanks so much for joining us today.