Diabetes-related Education
Importance
Diabetes education helps reduce the risk for developing diabetes and its complications.
Required Key Measure
Must be reported by grantees that select this Best Practice.
Number and percent of individuals in your Target Group who receive education on any diabetes topic*, either in a group or individual setting.
* Includes nutrition education, physical activity education, and any other diabetes education.
- Improvement: Increasing the number and percent of individuals in your Target Group who achieve this measure shows improvement.
- Timeframe: The timeframe for collecting data on the Required Key Measure will be January 1st to December 31st.
- Data Collection: For more information on data collection and reporting, see the SDPI Outcomes System (SOS).
Target Group Guidance
Select your Target Group from adults and/or youth with diabetes and/or at risk for developing diabetes.
You are required to report Required Key Measure data for one Target Group for your selected Best Practice. A Target Group is the largest number of patients/participants that your grant program can realistically serve. The following should be considered in selecting your Target Group:
- The size and characteristics (e.g., ages, health status, settings) of the community or patient population that you are going to draw your Target Group from
- Intensity of the activities/services you plan to do
- SDPI funding and other resources available to provide activities/services
For information and examples on selecting a Target Group, see the SDPI Diabetes Best Practice and Target Group recorded webinar.
Resources and Tools
Below are selected resources and tools specific to this Best Practice. Additional resources that may be useful for all Best Practices can be found in the SDPI Best Practice Resources.
IHS Division of Diabetes Treatment and Prevention
- Diabetes Education Lesson Plans
- Diabetes Standards of Care and Resources for Clinicians and Educators: Diabetes Self-Management Education and Support
- Education Materials and Resources (Online Catalog)
- Online Catalog
- Eagle Book Series (Produced by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Native Diabetes Wellness Program with support by the Indian Health Service Division of Diabetes Treatment and Prevent and the Tribal Leaders Diabetes Committee.)
- Integrating Diabetes Self-Management Education and Support Into your SDPI Best Practice [PDF – 275 KB]
- SDPI Diabetes Healthy Heart Toolkit: Module 3: Implement a Healthy Heart Program
- SDPI Diabetes Prevention Toolkit: Module 3: Implement a Diabetes Prevention Program
- Tipping the Motivational Balance for Change
Indian Health Service
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- American Indian/Alaska Native Communities Prevent Type 2 Diabetes
- Diabetes Self-Management Education and Support (DSMES) Toolkit
- Native Diabetes Wellness Program
American Diabetes Association
- American Diabetes Association. 5. Facilitating Positive Health Behaviors and Well-being to Improve Health Outcomes: Standards of Care in Diabetes—2025 Diabetes Care 2025, Vol.48, S86-S127. doi:https://doi.org/10.2337/dc25-S005
- American Diabetes Association. 15. Management of Diabetes in Pregnancy: Standards of Care in Diabetes—2025 Diabetes Care 2025, Vol.48, S306-S320. doi.org/10.2337/dc25-S015
- Diabetes Self-Management Education & Support in Diabetes: A Consensus Report Diabetes Care 2020;43(7):1636–1649. doi:10.2337/dci20-0023
- Erratum. 2022 National Standards for Diabetes Self-Management Education and Support Diabetes Care 2022;45(2):484–494. doi.org/10.2337/dc21-2396
Association of Diabetes Care & Education Specialists