Structured Education and Digital Learning for Diabetes Care in Scotland

Patient education plays a major role in the successful delivery of Health and Care services in Scotland. Well delivered education allows for health and care practitioners to have meaningful and in-depth discussions with their patients, allowing for the possibility of shared decision making to take place. Simultaneously it can help patients to better understand their own conditions and more effectively manage their own health and care. The nature of the principles for adult learning coupled with the poor uptake of structured education for diabetes, suggests that the opportunity to improve the impact of structured education lies in how it is introduced and delivered to patients. The content of the various resources themselves is sound and does not require alteration, instead NHS Scotland should look towards employing innovative solutions to improve the delivery of its programmes. As well as an overhaul of the medium in which they are delivered. The market of online learning can act as a resource or a blueprint for developing new programmes. However, the patients themselves must be involved in the development process to ensure the best end product with the most benefit for the user.