The National Diabetes Information Clearinghouse (NDIC) is an excellent place to find diabetic patient education material. A federal resource, the NDIC is a service of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Under the “Tools and Resources” section of the NDIC website (http://diabetes.niddk.nih.gov/) one can find links regarding specific aspects of the disease, from newly diagnosed or at risk articles to the various forms of treatment. There are interactive materials that patients can download including video, radio, and podcasts. An image library is also a helpful diabetic patient education tool with illustrations of anatomy and instructional and lifestyle-related pictures ready to download. The NDIC provides a list of A-Z diabetes topics as well in order to make searching easy. Additionally, the NDIC links to all federal diabetes related programs including the National Diabetes Education Program (NDEP), clinical trials, and statistics. Unique to the NDIC website are links to different methods of financial help to pay for diabetes care and referrals to diabetic educators and health care professionals. Patients have the opportunity to use the NDIC materials online, download them, or order one of their many publications.
Diabetic Patient Education – State
The California Diabetes Program (http://www.caldiabetes.org/content.cfm?CategoriesID=75) offers a list of downloadable diabetic education materials. Appropriate for diabetes educators as well as patients themselves, the website lists the various languages the material is available in, allowing greater access for non-English speakers. The state of Maine’s MaineHealth website (http://www.mmc.org/mh_body.cfm?id=285) offers “Patient Education Materials” for professionals and patients with pdf’s of general tools for people with diabetes such as diet, gestational diabetes, and diabetes self-management. Another section is dedicated to diabetic patient self-management with simple tests and worksheets for patients to fill out when creating action plans. Patients can order printed diabetes education materials through the Texas Department of State Health Services website as well.
Diabetic Patient Education – Private
There are many private organizations, universities, and websites that offer diabetic patient information. The major health organizations and centers such as the American Diabetes Association, Joslin Diabetes Center, and the Mayo Clinic are excellent resources for diabetes information, management, and complications. The website ethnoMED (ethnomed.org), of the Harborview Medical Center offers medical information tailored for cultural considerations, designed to address the medical needs of immigrant and refugee communities. Diabetic diet education information is available for ethnic diets, such as Cambodian, and materials are also presented in a number of different languages. Diabetic diet education materials are available in abundance online. MedlinePlus of the NIH and U.S. National Library of Medicine has information on the diabetic diet, providing guidelines, advice, recipes, and meal planning tools.
