Abstract
Background: The purpose of this study is to explore the professional and personal experiences of multidisciplinary healthcare professionals during and following diabetes counselling and empowerment education. Methods: Everyone who had participated in a diabetes counselling and empowerment course between 2008-2016 was invited to respond to an online survey and follow-up telephone interview if willing. Interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim. The research team used interpretative phenomenology to identify core themes from both the survey and telephone interviews and which captured the impact of empowerment education. Results: 22 doctors, nurses, dieticians, and psychologists completed an online questionnaire. 10 subsequently took part in telephone interviews. Empowerment education changed them from fixers to facilitators. Their transformation included a sense of becoming authentic, ‘being the way I want to be’ in clinical practice and becoming more self-reflective. This affected them personally as well as reinvigorating them professionally. Conclusions: The participants described a personal and professional journey of transformation that included discovering their person-centred philosophy. They adopted a consultation structure that empowered people with diabetes to care for themselves. It can be speculated that participants’ experience of transformation may also guard against professional burnout.
Highlights
Diabetes care focuses on blood glucose management to prevent micro and macro vascular complications
This study focuses on the experience of the participants during and following training in person-centred empowerment education
Our research shows that there are positive outcomes for clinicians who move from fixer to facilitator. This is attributed to the experiential nature of the course, through which participants grow relationships based on the philosophy of Rogers’ Person-Centred Approach.[15]
Summary
Diabetes care focuses on blood glucose management to prevent micro and macro vascular complications. Methods: Everyone who had participated in a diabetes counselling and empowerment course between 2008-2016 was invited to respond to an online survey and follow-up telephone interview if willing. Empowerment education changed them from fixers to facilitators Their transformation included a sense of becoming authentic, ‘being the way I want to be’ in clinical practice and becoming more self-reflective. This affected them personally as well as reinvigorating them professionally. Conclusions: The participants described a personal and professional journey of transformation that included discovering their personcentred philosophy. They adopted a consultation structure that empowered people with diabetes to care for themselves. It can be speculated that participants’ experience of transformation may guard against professional burnout
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