Private one to one diabetes education

[walshdon]

Hi everyone,

I am looking to set up a private diabetes advisor service in my local area, I am type 1 and have been for the last 13 years, I as I'm sure all of you have felt the frustration of not getting the time and dedication needed in helping me with my diabetes care.

I have looked online trying to find anyone else doing this and I am at a loss, only in America can you find this. I have two questions one has anyone gone private for education or counselling and two how much is reasonable to pay.

 

[catapillar]

Do you have any medical qualifications or applicable training to qualify you to provide such a service? Have you looked into insurance costs/issues?

What sort of things do you plan to advise on - I would think if it covers medication (how much, when, how to take it) you are going to be precluded from giving such advice if you are not qualified. If you can't give advice pertaining to insulin, your service would be essentially worthless to a type 1. So have a closer look at the regulations and insurance which might impact on your business idea.

 

[azure]

With respect, if I was going to go private, I'd pay to see a consultant.

But I've never felt the need to do that as my local diabetes centre has some excellent DSNs who can help with my queries, and I've also had very good, forward-thinking consultants there - all free on the NHS.

If you're only talking about counselling for the psychological issues, then you'd be best looking into appropriate counselling courses so you have a relevant qualification.

 

[AndBreathe]

Would this be on a commercial basis?
Have you considered any licensing issues you might have?
Is your offering a medical, emotional or both support service?
Do you have any qualifications in the medical field or counselling basis?
Do you have access to blood test and the like, or would you be depending on whatever your customers “had around at the time?”
Is it on a face-to-face basis, internet or telephone based?
Is your offering for T1 , or all types of diabetics?
Do you know how many there are in your area?


I'm a curious sort. I'm not T1, so could never be competition.

 

[walshdon]

I am not a doctor so would not be giving advice on what medicines to take or how much, it is going to be education in healthy lifestyle and nutrition. I am qualified in sports science, biology and nutrition. I have trained in dafne and am waiting to train on Desmond. I have also got diabetes qualifications. This is something that I have worked towards for the last two years. I would look to help diabetic and also people caring for diabetics in schools, nursing homes etc. It would be on a face to face basis.

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[himtoo]

this disease is enough of a heart wrench for all of us that do it 24 hours a day
thinking that someone wants to turn helping D people into a moneymaking business does not sit well with me.
support people here on the forum to give something back.

 

[fozzie84]

I personally think it could be something worthwhile as in the past few weeks I was trying to see if I could find a nutritionist/dietician, who also had diabetes, so they would understand my issues better. I encountered an ex dietician, turned pump rep at my diabetic clinic who had diabetes and if she had been working as a dietician I definately would have tried to use her knowledge/experience. I would want to see someone had some sort of qualifications to indicate their level of knowledge and give me confidence, and there are definately things to consider re what advice you could give etc but I think it could work. Prices would depend on the service you offer and what similar services charge locally.

 

[ladybird64]

I am not a doctor so would not be giving advice on what medicines to take or how much, it is going to be education in healthy lifestyle and nutrition. I am qualified in sports science, biology and nutrition. I have trained in dafne and am waiting to train on Desmond. I have also got diabetes qualifications. This is something that I have worked towards for the last two years. I would look to help diabetic and also people caring for diabetics in schools, nursing homes etc. It would be on a face to face basis.

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Would you mind telling me exactly what the qualifications are, and at what levels you have attained them? What are diabetes qualifications? Personally, I am not putting your idea down, but I think you probably need to put in more than two years study - counselling has it's own qualifications, you don't mention having them?

 

[walshdon]

I am still studying, I have completed a two year full time advanced diploma, my next step is to complete 20 hours of face to face practical. I will only be education and advice, I do not plan to go into counselling, I am not wanting to replace nhs care but to be an additional support if needed. I know this won't be for everyone but unless you are really focused to find out the information about this disease it can be overwhelming. I would have liked 13 years ago someone who could really empathise with what I was going through.

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[catapillar]

What is the diploma in? I have been looking at some post grad diabetes courses recently, but just individual modules as I'm not a HCP.

Have you looked at the regulations in this area? You say you would be giving advice, but I'm not sure how much advice you would be permitted to give on how to manage type 1 if you aren't a medical professional. And if you are permitted to give advice the insurance costs could be cripplingly expensive - you give the wrong bit of advice to someone on managing insulin & exercise, they hypo & get brain damage & you are sued for life long 24/7 care - it's a remote risk, but it's those kind of risks your insurance premium would be calculated on. Especially if this is an untested kind of service where there is no precedent on which to calculate the premium.

 

[NurseDee]

I agree with the others. The reason you only see this in America is because standards of education is different there. Here in the UK you have to be trained to a different standard. Nutritionalists are not regulated in the UK but practice under guidance from qualified DNS ect.

Giving advice on nutrition to Diabetics is not a good idea unless you are trained to standards at University degree levels. Diabetes is not set in obesity or overeating, a lot of diabetics have other medical conditions. Unless you have a degree in nursing, diabetes management or dietics you will not have enough knowledge on nutrition, long term conditions and medications combined, which is important.

I know you say you wont be giving medication advice but it is essential that you know how the nutritional advice you give will affect the persons conditions or medications ect. What levels are qualifications?

As a Registered Nurse with 2 University degrees I still have to complete a PostGrad Diploma/degree at University to be able to give nutrition advice to Diabetics.

Could you look to work alongside dieticians or health promotion specialists or something like that?

Sorry to be a dampener

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[Juicyj]

I think in theory your idea is good, as we all want to be given guidance and re-assurance on how to best manage our condition. However in reality I have learn't that we are all uniquely different in our own management so what works for me doesn't work for another therefore there is no strict governance on type 1 management, we all operate with different insulins, different management systems and each individual has their own unique physiology.

Managing type 1 is down to each individual to take ownership and manage, we each individually have to learn how to deal with the ups and downs that type 1 presents to us, I would only feel comfortable making any changes under the guidance of my DSN or consultant and this is really how it should be, I don't think there is a market for this personally, and as a type 1 I would be dubious about someone acting as an expert but independently of the NHS. If you have great ideas and want to share them why not write a book and that way others can benefit but without the liability or risk of acting as a 'diabetes advisor'. Dr Bernstein has done this and helped millions

 

[AndBreathe]

I am still studying, I have completed a two year full time advanced diploma, my next step is to complete 20 hours of face to face practical. I will only be education and advice, I do not plan to go into counselling, I am not wanting to replace nhs care but to be an additional support if needed. I know this won't be for everyone but unless you are really focused to find out the information about this disease it can be overwhelming. I would have liked 13 years ago someone who could really empathise with what I was going through.

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Walshdon, have you considered how large or small your target market would be? I appreciate there are many diabetics around, although many are T2, which may or may not float your boat, but you also have to consider a few commercial aspects.

Firstly, it is critical you thoroughly assess what your tightest running costs would be. By that, I mean any periodic registration fees, insurances, premises, unless you want to work from home, and if you do want to work from home, it's unlikely it would be appropriate to have consultations in the corner of the living room, or dining room. If you are considering premises, you have to take into account rent, business rates, utilities, cleaning and anyone who might be required to support you, or act as a chaperone, if you intend to lay hands on your clients. Then you add whatever level of income you require to support your personal lifestyle - mortgage/rent, utilities, food and drink, National Insurances and Income Tax and generally having a life and the odd holiday.

Once you have that, you need to seriously consider how much you would have to charge an hour for your services to cover your costs, at a credible level of saturation. How much of any working day could you actually be doing consultations? After all, you have to make/return phone calls, do emails, market yourself/networking, building and maintaining relationships with local HCP, because sure as eggs is eggs, they'll get to know about it, and any relevant travel you might need to undertake. If there is any element of you visiting clients, you will need insurance for full business use (which is a different category to commuting to and from a regular base, and also wear and tear/periodic replacement of any vehicle.

My gut feel is your services, to provide yourself with a decent living, wouldn't be cheap. Would you expect your clients to come back again and again, and again? How many sessions would you consider a client might need/like? If not, are you confident of enough new clients, month on month?

I wish you the very best of luck.

 

[azure]

I agree with @Juicyj We're all so different and have very different lifestyles. I think we learn by experience what works for us. I can't see how anyone who hadn't 'lived my life' would know what was best for me.

That's what I liked when I first joined this forum - the fact that there were thousands of people giving their experiences. I could then read 15 different approaches and choose which was appropriate for me. It's like a hive of diabetic wisdom

I like to offer my advice (for what it's worth) here and for free. Likewise, I'd be very reluctant to pay for advice, unless the person was some kind of world expert or had incredible proven results that would benefit me greatly.