In my role as an advanced nurse practitioner (ANP) with a diabetes specialism, I am diagnosing increasing numbers of patients with both type 2 diabetes; and those at risk of developing diabetes (HBA1c of 42-47 mmol). Granta Medical Practices where I work, is a merged group of five practices – now a primary care network (PCN) with 44,000 patients.
Several years ago I developed a patient passport to try and help patients to become more aware of their long term conditions and encourage them to be more self-caring by providing them with their test results such as cholesterol and HBA1c.
I have become increasingly aware of the importance of motivational behaviour change in preventing and managing diabetes, hence my interest in using group consultations. I was aware that in my
one to one consultations I was repeating
the same diet and lifestyle messages to multiple patients, some who took this onboard and changed their lifestyle while others did not. I was also aware that many other influences such as the media or patients’ social circle play a much larger role in behaviour change than my brief encounters.
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