Living with diabetes and kidney disease: a one-day patient symposium

Evaluating a workshop model for improving diabetes patient education programs: is it really successful?

Over a threx-year period, 54 health professionals at tended three two-day workshops designed to improve diabetes patient education programs, par ticularly program manage ment and evaluation of skills. A commitment-to- change strategy was used to determine the long-term effectiveness of the workshops. Fifty-nine per cent overall of the com mitments to change were reported as attained in the six-month follow-up surveys. The evidence suggests not only that the workshops were suc cessful, but that measurable changes in participants' programs can be attained in a cost- effective manner.