Objective: Recently, our team transitioned to an outpatient diabetes education model for patients with newly diagnosed insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) after concerns arose regarding inconsistent education provided in the hospital, as well as additional emotional stress attributed to hospitalization. To optimize this model, an improvement initiative was implemented to redesign the outpatient care processes, refine patient education content and identify ideal educational strategies. Specific aims were to (a) achieve family self-management, (b) reduce stress and (c) ensure family and provider satisfaction with the outpatient pathway.
Research design and methods: Using a multidisciplinary team and formal quality improvement (QI) methods, we redesigned content and format of the pathway based on results from key measures and Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycles. Primary outcome measures included self-efficacy, stress and satisfaction.
Results: We achieved our goal self-management skills, while maintaining high satisfaction for patients and providers throughout the implementation and refinement of the pathway. Key pathway components include refined education content, interactive educational tools and close collaboration with social work. Multiple PDSA cycles and pathway modifications were completed, including early social work involvement and simplification of education resources; however, we found modifying the stress experienced by parents to be a challenge. The majority of the stress relates to factors that are difficult to modify, specifically emotional burden and interpersonal distress, and is rarely attributed to regimen- or physician-related distress.
Conclusion: During the transition to an outpatient pathway, we achieved our satisfaction and self-management goals but were unsuccessful in achieving our goals for minimizing stress associated with a new diagnosis of a chronic illness.
Keywords: ambulatory care facilities; education; psychological stress; type 1 diabetes mellitus.