The Corner Booth

The healthcare professionals formerly known as “diabetes educators” will henceforth be referred to as “Diabetes Care and Education Specialists” (DCES). This was the biggest news coming out of the mid-August 2019 annual meeting of the American Association of Diabetes Educators (AADE), the professional org that will also be changing its name soon as well to fit with this rebranding effort. That new name: Association of Diabetes Care and Education Specialists (ADCES). It’s all part of something called Project Vision , a multi-year plan to define and refresh the roles, capabilities and care priorities of its roughly 14,000 members nationwide. This effort dates back to at least two years ago, when the organization realized that something had to be done to address the tides of change in diabetes education. Yes, We Said “Rebranding” The announcement of the new job title by current AADE President Karen Kemmis on the first day of the #AADE19 conference was met with some en...

The American Association of Diabetes Educators (AADE) is remaking itself in recent years, under new leadership that's far more "plugged in" to patients' real challenges and new technologies/online activity than ever before.  This professional org, historically focused inward on the careers of its ~ 14,000 members, has come into the spotlight of patient advocacy in recent years with the growing recognition that these folks are on the front lines of diabetes care, as their role is to offer PWDs practical real-world advice. Thanks to some key individuals -- notably 2016 AADE president Hope Warshaw, new 2018 president Donna Ryan , and CEO Charles Macfarlane -- the org is getting serious about embracing peer support and collaborating with the DOC (Diabetes Online Community). They've recently taken three important steps to make this a reality: Revamping their National Standards to emphasize that "peer support paired with diabetes self-management ed...

We were very sad to hear the recent news that our friend, R. Keith Campbell, has passed away. A longtime type 1 himself for roughly 68 years (!) following his diagnosis in 8th grade, Keith became an icon in the D-Community over the years, shaping much of the diabetes education landscape as we know it today. He's known as one of the original "founding fathers" of the American Association of Diabetes Educators (AADE) in 1973, and he worked in pharmacy care at Washington State University before retiring four years ago. Just recently in October 2017, he received a Lifetime Achievement Award for his hard work and innovations over the course of his career. We originally published the following feature on Keith back on Nov. 1, 2013, and are revisiting it as a tribute today: Remembering Diabetes Education Icon R. Keith Campbell Diabetes education means A LOT to those of us living with this disease every day. But it wasn't always available -- or even a twink...