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Poll: Which diabetes course(s) have you attended?

Which of the following structured diabetes education courses have you attended?

  • DAFNE

    Votes: 122 18.8%

  • DESMOND

    Votes: 122 18.8%

  • X-PERT

    Votes: 70 10.8%

  • ASPIRE

    Votes: 3 0.5%

  • Freedom4Life

    Votes: 2 0.3%

  • Other (Please state in a post)

    Votes: 67 10.3%

  • Never attended one

    Votes: 291 44.8%
  • Total voters
    650
Being a diabetic since 1981 I got my 1 & only course in 2017 the DAFNE course. I found this invaluable - it was the 1st time I had actually been told how to control my levels via the carb counting. I am still pretty disgusted that it took my Health Authority so long to get me on this course & I feel that before then the health care I received was very very lacking. Unfortunately I live in an area of the UK that has very poor health care & this should not happen.
 
I did the DAFNE course at Salisbury (great team) 2012 about 18 months after being diagnosed.

It was great. When first diagnosed my I was instructed to keep regimented timings and specific amounts of food which was awkward and dull.

I appreciate there is the honeymoon period and some self learning to do but the sooner you can get on these courses the better.

They explain everything, and also show you to do whatever you want and adjust accordingly.

Refresher 1/2 days every now and then are also useful to go over certain points.

Because of that course I’ve been able to travel loads for months at a time self sufficient, increase my exercise and stop letting diabetes rule your life.

Go DAFNE

#FUD
 

Hey I completely agree with you I was diagnosed with diabetes 1988 I was 4 years old and did DAFNE course 2012 , very frustrating
 
None. Nobody has ever suggested one. The closest I ever got was my review the Christmas before last when one of the nurses said she'd just been on one (which, incidentally, caused me to change to a low carb diet).
 
None. DAFNE has been offered but i declined. I can’t imagine having to take a week off from work for this (can they not do a weekend course) and also I don’t know how my low carb diet fits well with the course. They might all think I’m crazy eating low carb ?
 
I am going on the DESMOND one day course, they can't fit me in until August though.
I have heard some bad things about the quality of the advice on this course, I don't want the Doc to think I am resistant to change. I may learn something anyway.
 
I have just got a invite to "Live Your Life Forum" in Bundaberg arranged by the NDSS and Diabetes Queensland. It cost $15.00 for the day which includes a a bag full of goodness to take home.

The supplied food and drinks are a bit sus, plenty of choice but no LCHF,

I am not going as I have better things to do on a Saturday.

 
So I did a DAFNE course last October (2018) and recently had a HB1AC test and my results have not reduced but doubled. Not happy or impressed and my Gp and hospital are absolutely useless in helping me to rectify this. I have a feeling I am going to have to do this alone without their help which is a joke. Not happy or impressed at all.
 
I'm on a DAFNE course starting Monday. I started insulin seven weeks ago. There was an introductory session last week. One person had had diabetes for 28 years and has never been on a course. I'm the most recent insulin user.
 
I recently attended an EMPOWER course.

It lasted for 4 hours and by the time you get a place on it, you have already learnt all of what they cover.

They did cover most of what you would expect, and the last two hours was spent discussing EATWELL.

I surprised to see that of the 12 people who attended, only three of us had any determination to deal with the diagnosis. The remainder really didn't want to make any lifestyle changes.

The last 15 minutes was thrown open to questions and the Trainer did seem out of her depth when answering some of them.

Everyone was asked to leave their email addressses and were told they would be sent login details for ongoing support at MAPMYDIABETES. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but three weeks later and no sign of any login being sent.

It strikes me that the NHS can now tick a box that 12 more people have been through the system.
 
DAFNE I loved every minute. Learnt shed loads about coping with illness, how to get the best out of consultant appointments, not over treating hypos, and to treat properly with pure sugar so that it works quickly and efficiently. They checked how we were injecting made sure that people were rotating sites. Not everyone was. Just meeting other Type 1s, some who had had it donkeys years was brilliant.
 
 
Hi folks. I was d T2 in Feb. 2917. I am now 65 and have been following a Low Carb/ Healthy Fat diet and lost 2 stone 7 lbs. I have had virtually no help except from healthy cookery books and my nurse within my GP centre. This forum is my lifeline.
 
I went on X-pert. It was amazing and brilliant and not only taught me everything to get my Hba1c down which I have done to 40 - it also lifted me out of the depression that the diagnosis put me into. I would recommend it to everyone. Unfortunately the funding has been axed from CC for it where I live which is sad - I would have liked others to be saved like me.
 
zand said:
I am type 2. I have never been offered a place. The only advice I have really been given by my GP and DN is to cut down on sweet things and to avoid Heinz tomato Soup and pears.
Click to expand...
Oh shoot!! Have had a craving for tomato soup and have been eating it by the ton!!
 
cookiesT2 said:
Sounds like they're a waste of time from all the comments
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I went on the Desmond course and found it very informative. I had been diabetic for about a year when I went. That was down to the fact that the place I wanted to attend was booked on the dates I could go (I go away a lot)
 
Pauline17136 said:
Hi folks. I was d T2 in Feb. 2917. I am now 65 and have been following a Low Carb/ Healthy Fat diet and lost 2 stone 7 lbs. I have had virtually no help except from healthy cookery books and my nurse within my GP centre. This forum is my lifeline.
Click to expand...
I find information from my surgery very confusing. My diabetes nurse told me to follow the heart diet and my diabetes doctor said no! The Desmond course was very helpful for me.
 
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