The history of diabetes lay associations.

Abstract

With much of the developed world having the increasing sociologic and economic problems of an aging population, there is an increased awareness of educating patients to not only understand and follow the instructions of their medical teams but to have increased responsibility for their own care. Of all the chronic conditions, diabetes, for which there is no cure, is among the most expensive and education-intensive. The lifelong Type I insulin-dependent diabetics need to know how to adjust their life-style and activities but also how to take and adjust several times daily insulin injections, diet and exercise and how to keep a wary eye to avoid complications that might be life-threatening. Since individual instruction is not possible for the 100 million diabetics in the known world, this can be best accomplished by educating in groups.