Back to Basics: A Recap of the AADE Practice Paper, Teaching Injection Technique to People With Diabetes

With the expanding options in diabetes clinical care, the diabetes educator role has expanded to help people with diabetes (PWd) navigate the complicated clinical landscape. This complicated landscape of connected health and precision medicine is advancing care and self-management for PWd and offering so many more tailored options for care. Yet there are also times when getting back to the basics and focusing on small simple changes can have huge returns. This is what came to mind when i read the AAde Practice Paper, Teaching Injection Technique to People With Diabetes. As educators, many of the basic injection techniques are second nature to us. engaging both new and experienced people with diabetes in best practices for injection techniques can go a long way to increasing comfort and safety and proper rotation for absorption. Throughout the care continuum, there will be moments where lifestyles adjust for PWd under our care, and implementing a systematic needs assessment to identify emerging barriers to selfcare, including insulin injections, is imperative. The paper provides a list of recommended topics to use as a guide in completing assessments (see sidebar). With the complication rate of lipohypertrophy so high (reported in the paper as nearly 50% of PWd using insulin), it is important to periodically discuss injection site selection and rotation at visits. Keeping an eye out for inflammation, hardened areas, or scar tissue and avoiding those areas will improve insulin absorption and reduce irritation and bruising. remind PWd that the most desirable injection site is the abdomen because it allows for the most predictable insulin absorption. other reminders include: