Overview of the Foundation of European Nurses in Diabetes (FEND) 21st conference 2016 in Munich

Abstract

As ever, the Foundation of European Nurses in Diabetes (FEND) conference provided diabetes nurses from across Europe the opportunity to learn and share innovative practices that enhance the health and well-being of people with diabetes. The first session was very enthusiastically presented by Dr Thurm (DSN from Berlin). Cases were used to exemplify the importance and need for structured education in pump and continuous glucose monitoring therapy. The curriculum of the SPECTRUM structured education programme was described and the benefits of attending the programme also demonstrated with case studies. It was very motivating to hear such enthusiasm for education and research. An equally enthusiastic and informative case -study -based presentation was also given on the first morning by Dr Ketzer from the Netherlands. He covered how a pharmacist can assist patients and healthcare professionals (HCPs) with dispensing and surveillance of medication, medication reconciliation and polypharmacy review. He used case studies very effectively to demonstrate the dangers of some prescribing in diabetes and the interaction between different agents and the need for caution and care in the complex disease management of diabetes. This session would be well worth a re-visit on the webcasts: http://www.fend-lectures.org/index.php? menu=view&source=lectures&sourceid=19&id=187. Prof. Ziegler also gave a fascinating and very encouraging and inspiring synopsis of the current advances and research in immunotherapy and potential vaccination to prevent and delay Type 1 diabetes. She outlined the newly formed Global Platform for the Prevention of Autoimmune Diabetes (GPPAD) in Europe. This aims to provide an infrastructure for trials in the prevention Type 1 diabetes in Europe. Clearly exciting times are ahead. Further sessions on the prevention of gestational diabetes, the structure of diabetes nursing organisation in Poland, and diabetes and political advocacy in Malta were also enlightening and informative, and Gill Hood gave a competent and really well -structured example of nursing research from the concept of the MyQuest Consultation Tool to its implementation and dissemination. Three presentations of original research chosen from the abstracts submitted to the conference were also given. Ms Sahin presented the robust validity of the University of Virginia Child/Teen Low Blood Sugar Survey to measure fear of hypoglycaemia. They had tested the survey in a group of 250 adolescents in Turkey and proven its reliability, were confident to implement it into practice. Ms Forde (FEND Research Fellow at King’s College London) presented data from her doctoral studies looking at the experiences of women with Type 2 diabetes and HCPs of pre-pregnancy care (PPC). She identified factors that affected women effectively accessing PPC including their orientation towards pregnancy, health beliefs and self-efficacy. In the case of the HCP their professional competency and biases were very influential in facilitating this care. Mrs Gane (FEND ENDCUP student at King’s College London) presented the findings from her Master’s dissertation. These were the findings from a feasibility study to establish a study design for a diagnostic accuracy study of screening for hyperglycaemia in highdose dexamethasone treatment being used in chemotherapy. Her study used blinded continuous glucose monitoring to look at the glycaemic profile induced by dexamethasone, and symptom reporting, self-monitoring of blood glucose, urine dipstick testing and glycated haemoglobin as potential methods for screening for hyperglycaemia. She hopes to continue the study to doctoral level. Day two started with a very grounding presentation on cardiovascular disease and diabetes by Prof. Marshall. She highlighted the importance of smoking cessation in diabetes and shared her disbelief at the clinical inertia around this in clinical practice. The current evidence and outcome studies were used to demonstrate the catastrophic combined effects of hyperglycaemia, dyslipidaemia and hypertension to cause accelerated atherosclerosis and, in particular, in young women with Type 2 diabetes making this an urgent group to prioritise if we are to help these women live past middle age. A detailed and powerful talk on what is co-creation of wellness and health was given by Dr Wilson. She gave a background to the work done in this area over the past few years and on the structure and design of healthcare so that it can be co-designed to be patient centred and therefore effective. She discussed how active listening and supporting patients to self-manage effectively and to live their lives in the way that they want to, and manage and engage with their own care. The presentation outlined how this way of working can reduce costs and increase benefits and health. REPORT International Diabetes Nursing, Vol. 13, 2016, 71–72