Appendix D

Medication Supplement and Patient Education Poster

Working Together to Manage Diabetes has two companion pieces: a Working Together Medications Supplement and patient education poster (available
in English and Spanish).

The Working Together Medications Supplement is a quick reference guide
to medications commonly used by people who have diabetes, and is intended to help providers understand these medications. For complete prescribing information, please consult the package inserts or the Physicians’ Desk Reference.

PPOD providers and others not only can use the Working Together Medications Supplement to reinforce patient education messages about medication use, but also to coordinate team care. For example:

• Types of insulin and timing of their administration may help the PPOD provider schedule a procedure at an appropriate time.
• Awareness of common medication-related symptoms can help a non-primary care provider recognize a potential problem and make a referral.
• Adverse interaction of medications prescribed by multiple providers can be reduced.
• Inadvertent over and underdosing can be lessened if the entire health care team is aware of medication names (both generic and trade names), strengths, and dosing frequency.
• Every patient interaction is an opportunity to reinforce correct use of medication and to refer as needed to the primary care clinician and pharmacist for individualized drug therapy counseling.

The Working Together to Manage Diabetes patient education poster focuses on the steps a person with diabetes can take to team up with their PPOD providers for foot, eye, and oral health care and medication management. The poster emphasizes proactive “I will” statements and shows photos of PPOD providers interacting with patients. The poster can be hung in a waiting room, the public area of a pharmacy or community hall, or used as a prompt on key messages in one-on-one patient counseling.

The Working Together Medications Supplement and patient education posters are available for downloading from www.ndep.nih.gov and are copyright-free. Single free hard copies can be ordered via the National Diabetes Education Program Web site or by calling 1-800-438-5383.

May 2007

National Diabetes Education Program (NDEP)    http://ndep.nih.gov
NIDDK, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD

A Joint Initiative of the National Institutes of Health and the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention