Diabetes Awareness Month: Spotlight on the Role of a Remedy Group Diabetes Clinical Educator.

November is Diabetes Awareness Month which raises awareness of diabetes, its symptoms, and how people live and thrive with the condition. The 2024 theme for World Diabetes Day later this month is "Diabetes and Well-being", highlighting the impact of diabetes on mental and physical health. To mark the occasion, we sit down with Courtney Richardson, our Diabetes Clinical Education Manager based in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to discuss her role and how her personal experience as a Type 1 Diabetic has enabled her to empathize and identify with her patients’ concerns, needs and wellbeing.

Hi Courtney! What does a typical day in your role look like as a Diabetes Clinical Education Manager?

It’s so multifaceted every day, but first I make sure that any request coming to our team is checked for new patient enquiries, consents and doctor requests that we answer throughout the day. I always want to make sure we follow up on anything outstanding from the day before, so that we can follow up and help our patients get set up for training.

I also help the field team alongside the clinical team, making sure that they have everything they need to be able to contact their patients. I also ensure that the field team have what they need to support their doctors. There are a lot of one-on-one calls that we’re making between reps, the regional managers and the patient to make sure that the patient is taken care of, and that they’re taking their medication with consistency and care.

Throughout the day we’re always thinking outside of the box, trying to assess how we can help patients in areas of the country that may not have an in-person trainer, some patients don’t have a computer or a smart phone. In these cases, we have to call the doctor’s office and ask for their availability for a patient to come into their office so that we can see them virtually from the doctor’s computer. It’s a lot of back-and-forth conversations, but we get there in the end!

Diabetes and well-being is the theme for World Diabetes Day 2024-2026. Statistics show that 63% of people with diabetes say that the fear of developing diabetes-related complications affects their well-being. How does your role at Remedy Group support the wellbeing of diabetes patients?

As a Type 1 Diabetic myself for almost 30 years as well as a Remedy Group Diabetes Clinical Educator, I have first-hand experience of diabetes being a strain on your mental health. If you have diabetes or personally take care of someone with diabetes, you know much time and energy it takes for someone to just stay alive, it’s the most mentally draining condition you can have.

According to research from JMIR Diabetes - on average, a person with Type 1 Diabetes will make 180 more decisions a day than a person without Type 1 Diabetes. That means always asking yourself questions such as: “What’s my blood sugar?” and “Do I have to eat a snack?” - all these kinds of micro decisions, all day long. And if you make a decision that isn’t exactly right, and it has a negative effect, that itself can harm your mental state. It’s frustrating when you’ve done everything right, and you get a blood sugar reading that you’re not happy with.

Being there for a diabetic to voice their frustrations so they can process negative emotions is incredibly important for their well-being and how they regulate stress. At Remedy Group our Diabetes Clinical Educators are the support system that encourages our diabetes patients to keep going and empower them to prevent and stabilize long-term complications of the condition. We empower them with small steps and changes. This could be as simple joining a diabetes group or listening to a podcast. There are so many innovations within the diabetes tech space now that give diabetics hope for good control of their condition.

You never get a break from having diabetes, it’s 24/7, and it’s vital to give diabetics credit that they’re doing a great job just by being healthy. Because on top of the normal everyday things and commitments that non-diabetics have, diabetics are making almost 200 extra mental decisions every day. As a Diabetes Clinical Educator and Type 1 Diabetic myself, I can relate to this deeply, understanding the mind of a patient and really knowing how they feel. The patient always relates to me, because I am them.

Tell us about the care journey at the time of diagnosis. How does Remedy Group Diabetes Clinical Educators provide support at this life changing moment?

When we are engaging with a patient for the first time, we always seek to create a relationship with them so that they know who we are, what we will provide and how. We want them to trust that they will receive a highly personalized service and continuity of care. We’re going to train them extensively, and they will have our phone numbers so they can contact us with any questions they have. We will initially train them on the client product so that they understand everything about their device or medicine and we may also involve a family member, where relevant, so that the patient feels more reassured and supported. We tailor our care attentively to the patient’s individual needs.

On average we have two to three follow ups per patient after they start treatment, but we can sometimes do four follow ups and the patient can always call and receive support from us. We always want to make sure that when something does come up, such as dosing or prescription needs, we can help them by contacting the doctor’s office or go through the details with them. Some of these patients have never been on a device or insulin before, so we hold the hand of the patient from the very beginning of their diabetes journey to help them navigate everything.

Finally, what’s the highlight of your role as a Diabetes Clinical Educator at Remedy Group?

Giving my own personal perspective as a Type 1 Diabetic to my team so that they can apply it to others. It’s so important to be empathetic and try to feel what it’s like being in their shoes and not having stigma on what the diabetes patient is doing wrong. Humanizing the process of helping diabetes patients is my ultimate highlight.

What message do you want to share during Diabetes Awareness Month 2024?

If we can help the patient manage their total health and wellness while living with diabetes, even on the hard days, life can still be wonderful, full and without limits.

Remedy Group offers Clinical Education is any therapeutic area.?Explore ways our Clinical Educators?can support your organization’s unique goals and objectives.