AADE Gets Serious About Embracing the Diabetes Patient Community + Peer Support
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...