On-Demand Diabetes Education Videos for Patients and Families
A series of short videos addressing common diabetes topics are being created thanks to a newly funded project led by nurse practitioner Clare Foley, DNP, and Adam Edelstein.
A diagnosis of type 1 or type 2 diabetes comes with a steep learning curve. Individuals must quickly learn about blood glucose monitoring, medications, insulin, diabetes technology, nutrition and other aspects of managing their health. The project, awarded by the Herman Berkman Diabetes Clinical Innovation Fund, will provide reliable, on-demand information that patients, families and caregivers can watch, pause, replay and share as needed.
Topics will include checking blood glucose, injecting insulin, sick-day management, diabetes technology and other basics of diabetes self-management. The videos are designed to reinforce, not replace, education provided by Certified Diabetes Care and Education Specialists. They’ll be developed using evidence-based care guidelines and reviewed by Cheryl Barry, RN, CDCES, Manager of the Diabetes Education Program at UMass Memorial, to ensure the information is consistent with and reinforces what is covered in the clinic. The videos will also incorporate features such as closed captioning, larger text and detailed voiceovers to make them accessible to people with different abilities and levels of health literacy.
The videos will be available online, with QR codes provided in the clinic, allowing anyone to access them during appointments, while hospitalized, after discharge or at home. The project also plans to pursue making the resources available through the UMass Memorial Health Epic electronic health record system, allowing providers throughout the health system to share them with patients.
The goal is to give people living with diabetes and their caregivers convenient access to trustworthy information that helps them better understand diabetes, reinforce what they learn from their care team and become more confident managing their health.
Herman G. Berkman Diabetes Clinical Innovation Fund Recipients
On-Demand Diabetes Education Videos for Patients and Families
A series of short, on-demand videos addressing common diabetes topics, will be created, including blood glucose monitoring, insulin use, sick-day management and diabetes technology. The evidence-based videos are designed to reinforce, not replace, education provided by Certified Diabetes Care and Education Specialists. Patients, families and caregivers will be able to watch, pause and replay the videos as needed, providing convenient online access to reliable diabetes information. The project, led by nurse practitioner Clare Foley, DNP, and Adam Edelstein, also aims to make the videos available broadly throughout UMass Memorial Health so providers can easily share them electronically.
Clinical Study on Diabetes Management During Pregnancy
A clinical study at UMass Memorial Medical Center is comparing continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) to multiple daily fingersticks for pregnant women with type 2 diabetes. The randomized study, led by Gianna Wilkie, MD, Assistant Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology, was awarded funds to conduct includes maternal blood glucose control, patient satisfaction, and other perinatal outcomes.
Implementing a Liver Disease Screening Process in the Adult Diabetes Clinic
Liver disease is strongly associated with type 2 diabetes and obesity. It remains underdiagnosed and undertreated, and many people living with T2D are unaware they have it. This project, led by endocrinologist Madona Azar, MD, implemented a new process in the UMass Memorial diabetes clinic that uses a screening tool to analyze clinically available data to determine patients' risk of liver fibrosis.
AI Diabetic Retinopathy Screening in Primary Care
This project implemented an artificial intelligence (AI)- based diabetic retinopathy screening program in Family Medicine clinics to detect eye disease and improve comprehensive care for people living with diabetes. Recent studies have identified AI-based algorithms as promising tools for screening and early detection of diabetic retinopathy, helping those at risk. This study, led by optometrist Juan Ding, OD, PhD, tested the diagnostic accuracy of a hand-held AI-assisted camera used by primary care physicians to screen at-risk individuals for retinal changes indicative of diabetic retinopathy.
Analying the Benefits of Continuous Glucose Monitors to Reduce Hospitalizations and Diabetic Complications
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Improving Inpatient Blood Glucose Management
This project aimed to implement a carbohydrate-counting system for hospitalized inpatients with diabetes across the UMass Memorial Health system. Endocrinologist Leslie Domalik, MD, evaluated whether adopting a flexible meal dosing option based on carb counting would improve the outcomes of hospitalized patients with diabetes. By coordinating the timing of blood glucose testing, insulin dosing, and the administration of rapid-acting mealtime insulin, she wanted to ensure carbohydrate counts are listed for all food served to hospitalized patients and to better coordinate insulin delivery with meal delivery.
Improving Care Access for the Highest Risk Diabetes Patients
The inaugural Herman Berkman Diabetes Clinical Innovation funding was awarded to Daniel Amante, PhD, and Adarsha Bajracharya, MD, in 2019. It led to Dr. Amante receiving a three-year KL2 Mentored Career Development Training grant to develop a Diabetes Mellitus program using Behavioral economics to Optimize Outreach and Self-management support with Technology (DM-BOOST).
ID PLUS Care was a multidisciplinary, collaborative approach to improve care access, quality, and management for at-risk patients with diabetes. The program monitored Electronic Health Record data to identify UMass Medicare Accountable Care Organization patients at risk for negative outcomes and proactively contacted them to nudge them toward recommended services.