8 Comments

  1. Thanks for the shout out Frank. In relation to the session I attended what really, really annoyed me 🙂 was that they were unable to define non-adherence. If they’d said we define non-adherence as not having any blood glucose testing data, not doing x number of tests per day or whatever, I’d have thought harsh and I disagree but at least it’s transparent & stacks up as a piece of presented research. As it was they are discharging people for being non-adherent because “they just know” they are!! This is in addition to the quite significant number of people they discharge for not responding to 2 phone calls.

    • Jayne Lehmann

      I am sitting here trying to respond Mel … but am speechless. Oh wait … found some! Why are people ‘discharged’ from a service anyway … isn’t diabetes for life? HCPs need to ask themselves what am I missing when people are finding it hard to do their self care. Leaving the door open is the most important part of working with people with diabetes…I’ve even been known to send a Christmas card to people who haven’t come back but I know they are not coping with everything. It is just a little contact to keep the door open.

  2. Hello Frank! I’m eavesdropping from the wonderful world of cardiology out there. I follow Melinda on Twitter so saw her original posts, and then on Twitter I was absolutely gobsmacked by the hostile and superior attitude of the CEO of a major diabetes society who accused her of “personally attacking” the conference speaker (which she most certainly was NOT doing) and then accusing her of being disrespectful and unhelpful. And when she replied (way more polite than I could have managed to remain) by explaining that as a patient with T1D she had “skin in the game”, he doubled up his hostility by essentially blaming her for not understanding his own hard life as an academic. It was bizarre…

    All this sputtering because Melinda had the temerity to suggest that firing your patients for being non-compliant when you don’t even have a clear definition of non-compliance is NOT good care. That’s pretty obvious. She was obviously criticizing the program, not the speaker. And how ironic that another speaker at the same event was suggesting a truly patient-centred care in another room!

    Although I write about women’s heart disease, and not diabetes, I suspect we share a lot when it comes to the “C” word – c-c-c-c-compliance. How I hate that word!! As one of my blog readers once said, it sounds like it has punishment at the end of it… In the cardiac community, it’s mostly about taking and/or not taking the fistful of cardiac meds we suddenly have to take for the rest of our lives. There are many many reasons that heart patients stop taking their meds (none of which involve the lack of a beeping flashing pillbox or a trackable pill that contacts your doctor every time you DO take it (no matter what the tech hypesters insist!

    Excellent post, Frank – and highly applicable to other people living with a chronic illness.
    regards,
    C

  3. francesca cirillo

    Hi Frank,
    as a health professional myself- I am a practicing optometrist- I see that every day with my colleagues who brush off diabetic patients and remark on their weight and their non-compliance to the right carb counting and so on. Being diabetic and living life and working and dealing with the ongoing managing of this chronic condition is full on and these professionals need to – quoting you 🙂 – put themselves in the shoes of someone with diabetes.
    I have had the unfortunate experience of working for real major icon optometrist companies and when I have had enough of not being allowed my half hour break at lunch,I have mentioned (after proving my worth as a professional) that I am a type1 and breaks are important,ONLY to have the manager of that optical place knock on the consultation room and asking ” can I move your lunch ? just one more patient….these professionals who give their speech need to understand that non-adherence is very compound as a result of many many things.
    You are so amazing at communicating this across your blog : THANK YOU

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