Keeping Up With the Elderly: Implications for Diabetes Education
- Katie Weinger, EdD, RN
Americans are aging and developing diabetes at a rapid rate,1 and ∼40 million people will be affected by 2010.2 The number of older people who require health services, including diabetes education, is also increasing at a similar pace. Understanding aging as a developmental process is extremely important in the provision of high-quality care to people with diabetes.
Older people can lead full and active lives that typically differ significantly from the lives of people who are 10 or 20 years younger. Although grouping all adults together may be convenient for maximizing the number of people in an education class, the results of such groupings should be thoroughly and systematically evaluated to ensure that patient goals are …
