• Fresh Views

    #ADCES22 Wrap up!

    Deb and Tami are all smiles after our presentation at #ADCES22

    August 12-15 brought us a fresh point of view in Baltimore, MD at #ADCES22!  What an incredible conference, and so good to be back with friends and colleagues we haven’t seen in- person in 3 years.

    We were honored to present to a full room late on a Friday afternoon! Our presentation highlighted 7 tactics for your toolbox, so to speak, to transform primary care visits.Since the majority of type 2 diabetes is managed in primary care, it seems the best place to start to change the way we engage with clients/patients is in the primary care setting. In case you missed the 7 tactics, and are wondering, here you go…

    7 practical tactics for your primary care toolbox:

    Tactic 1: Open the visit with a question focused on what’s going well or how you can provide support

    Tactic 2: Elicit exceptions by asking “exception questions”

    Tactic 3: Use person-first, strengths-based language

    Tactic 4: Practice problem-free talk

    Tactic 5: Ask eliciting questions

    Tactic 6: Ask future-visioning questions

    Tactic 7: Use scaling questions to scale progress

    As we mentioned during our presentation, these tactics can largely be applied in other practice settings as well. 

    Celebrating with friends after our presentation

    Stop back by in 2 weeks when we’ll share perspectives on embracing a “growth mindset” – a particularly impactful concept we learned about at the conference and one where, we believe, the tenets of a solution focused practice align.

    View of Baltimore’s Inner Harbor

    We welcome anyone interested in our approach to Subscribe to our blog and we’ll email you when a new post is published!

    If you are a health care professional and interested in learning more about our solution-focused practice and approach, when you subscribe to our blog, we’ll send you in return a FREE resource of 10 Solution-Focused Questions to start a solution-focused discussion with your clients. 

    Follow us on Twitter and Instagram @AFreshPOVforYou

    Deb is employed by Dexcom, but her words and opinions in this blog are her own.

    Tami is employed by the University of Kentucky HealthCare Bar

  • Fresh Views

    Transform Primary Care Encounters: “Diabetes Only” Visits

    Success is built sequentially. It’s one thing at a time. – Gary W. Keller

    Building on our last blog about how to have a productive type 2 diabetes (T2D) diagnosis conversation using a solution-focused approach, NOW let’s focus on how to incorporate these techniques into follow up visits. These follow-up visits are ideally “diabetes only” visits. In a brief primary care visit that is addressing multiple issues, it can be too challenging to focus on specific diabetes priorities. The American Diabetes Association recommends scheduling  “diabetes only” appointments to focus on and address diabetes-related concerns. This diabetes only visit is an opportunity to be a think partner with your client to answer questions, address concerns, and map out a plan together.

    Using a solution-focused approach at a “diabetes only” visit?

    Since asking eliciting questions is a primary tenet of a solution-focused encounter, we encourage starting all visits by listening and learning from your client. Even though the client is new to diabetes, they are the expert in that they know what works in their life in other aspects, and they know what they are capable of doing now. (Read more about experts here)

    The goal is to focus on things that are working well, and when something works, do more of it! Help your clients to recognize their strengths by identifying exceptions. We’ve written about exceptions here). “Diabetes only” visits can be structured in a systematic way.

    10-step model for a “diabetes only” visit

    1. Start with a question. “I’m looking forward to hearing how things have been going since our last visit. Can you tell me one thing that went well for you this past week (or since we last met)?”
    1. Explore the reply further. “How do you think you can do more of (that)?”
    1. Personalize. “I want to make sure this visit is successful for you, what do you need to know or learn by the end of the visit?”
    1. Empower. Empower people with diabetes with tailored education and support to ensure their questions, needs and desires are met.
    1. Set a SMART goal.  A SMART goal  helps move the individual towards the direction they want to move based on your conversation. It helps quantify progress with measurable steps and keeps things reasonable and achievable.
    1. Ask a scaling question. “On a scale of 0-10 where zero is never and 10 is all the time, how confident are you that you can achieve your goal?
    • Use their answer to finish the visit and provide one action for them to focus on.
      • If 0-4: Encourage them to revise their smart goal, it might be too difficult to achieve.
      • If 5-7: Identify one strength they already have and build upon it. “What is one thing you do where you feel confident in your actions? How can  you do more of that?”
      • If 8-10:  Encourage them to challenge themselves and consider a goal that might move them closer to their overall health behavior outcomes.
    1. Review  the four critical conversations. As we discussed in the last blog, we encourage you to build upon these conversations at each visit. (adapted from ADA Overcoming Therapeutic Inertia

    Conversation 1: The nature of T2D is to change over time, as your insulin production changes.

    “Although diabetes is progressive, and can change over time, your actions can make a difference in slowing the progression over time.”

    Conversation 2: Your treatment plan will change over time as your diabetes changes.

    “We will work with you to find a treatment plan that achieves health goals while also considering your preferences and values.”

    Conversation 3: You can’t do this alone.

    “Seek help from family, friends and community support resources.”

    Conversation 4: Share your difficulties with managing your diabetes.

    “Your healthcare team is on your side and we will support you in whatever ways you need to manage your diabetes”

    1. Refer for diabetes self-management education and support.
    1. Thank them for coming in and for working hard.
    1. Plan follow-up. Plan the next diabetes only visit.

    Join us next time as we continue our series on incorporating a solution-focused approach when managing T2D in the primary care setting. We’ll continue to help you  build your solution-focused tool-kit. Our goal is to start slow and share small, achievable bite-size practice changes you can implement over time. 

    We welcome anyone interested in our approach to Subscribe to our blog and we’ll email you when a new post is published!

    If you are a health care professional and interested in learning more about our solution-focused practice and approach, when you subscribe to our blog, we’ll send you in return a FREE resource of 10 Solution-Focused Questions to start a solution-focused discussion with your clients. 

    Follow us on Twitter and Instagram @AFreshPOVforYou

    Deb is employed by Dexcom, but her words and opinions in this blog are her own.

    Tami is employed by the University of Kentucky HealthCare Barnstable Brown Diabetes Center, but her words and opinions in this blog are her own.

  • Fresh Views

    Transform Primary Care Encounters: Tackling the Diabetes Diagnosis

    “Health is a state of body. Wellness is a state of being.” ~ J. Stanford

    Our prior post in our series on transforming primary care encounters focused on combating therapeutic inertia. Today, we’d like to start from the very beginning – the conversation when the client first learns they have type 2 diabetes (T2D).  When beginning diabetes conversions using a solution-focused approach, we believe you will find that your relationship with your clients can improve and it will create an opportunity for ongoing shared decision-making.

    As a reminder, a solution-focused approach is the opposite of a “problem-focused” approach. The goal is to help the person with T2D recognize exceptions (when their problems did not happen) and help them to focus on their health behavior changes by doing “more of what works.”

    Using a solution-focused approach at the T2D diagnosis conversation?

    When preparing for the diagnosis conversation, first put yourself in your clients shoes. How would you want the conversation to go? What would you want to hear? Also consider your body language, your tone and word choice. We know in a busy primary care office, so much time is spent documenting in the EHR, but for this very important discussion, take a moment and step away from the computer, lean in to your client, show empathy and compassion while you say some very important words. Many are overwhelmed when they hear the news that they have T2D, and often won’t hear much of the rest of the conversation. Ask questions and engage in problem free talk, instead of giving a list of instructions. Maybe you simply state, “I know this is hard to hear, how can I help?” and “What information would you like to hear from me today as you start to learn about T2D?” Consider making this appointment brief and bring them back for a follow up “diabetes only” visit once they have time to absorb and process the information. 

    To build upon our blog on therapeutic inertia, we’re including some impactful information from the American Diabetes Association that encourages four critical conversations that promote “early positive conversations about the nature of diabetes.” These conversations address many tenets we value in a solution-focused approach, including person-centered, strength-based language, problem-free talk, listening, and building a partnership with clients.

    4 critical conversations

    There are four critical conversations that need to happen very early in the diagnosis. We encourage you to build upon these questions at each visit. Start small with a few comments and then build upon them as the person is learning to accept the diagnosis and is ready to learn more. At diagnosis, conversation #1 is the most significant. (adapted from ADA Overcoming Therapeutic Inertia)

    1. The nature of T2D is to change over time, as your insulin production changes.

    “I want you to know that diabetes is not a personal failure and it doesn’t mean you’ve done something wrong.”

    1. Your treatment plan will change over time as your diabetes changes.

    “You may need to add new medications as your diabetes changes. This is not a personal failure, just a part of how diabetes treatment progresses.”

    1. You can’t do this alone.

    “I am here to help you.”

    1. Share your difficulties with managing your diabetes.

    “Managing diabetes day in and day out can be hard. Share anything that may be getting in the way of managing your diabetes and also share your successes.”

    Close the diagnosis visit with a scaling question.

    On a scale of 0-10 where zero is no stress and 10 is the worst stress you’ve ever experienced, where are you right now?

    Use their answer to finish the visit and provide one action for them to focus on.

    • If 0-4:  encourage them to do some research online at trusted sources like the ADA, Diatribe, or ADCES.
    • If 5-7:  identify one strength they already have and build upon it
      • “What is one thing you do for yourself every day that makes you feel healthy? How can  you do more of that?”
    • If 8-10: just encourage them to breathe and take some time to let it sink in and to come back with questions in one week
      • “I know how hard this can be, take some time, write down questions you have, and let’s meet and talk more next week.”

    Reinforce that small changes can help move them in the right direction, and that you do not expect perfection. If they do the best that they can do, that’s the best they can do.  Remind them that you are partners on this journey. We believe that creating a supportive environment from day one, can empower people to learn to live with their diabetes.

    Keep reading our series on incorporating a solution-focused approach when managing T2D in the primary care setting. Next time we will focus on the first follow up visit after diagnosis.  Stop back by in 2 weeks as we share more tips to build your solution-focused tool-kit over time. 

    We welcome anyone interested in our approach to Subscribe to our blog and we’ll email you when a new post is published!

    If you are a health care professional and interested in learning more about our solution-focused practice and approach, when you subscribe to our blog, we’ll send you in return a FREE resource of 10 Solution-Focused Questions to start a solution-focused discussion with your clients. 

    Follow us on Twitter and Instagram @AFreshPOVforYou

    Deb is employed by Dexcom, but her words and opinions in this blog are her own.

    Tami is employed by the University of Kentucky HealthCare Barnstable Brown Diabetes Center, but her words and opinions in this blog are her own.