Abstracts / Can J Diabetes 36 (2012) S24eS76S26

patient satisfaction and efficacy of treatment as determined by A1clevels,whenusinga5mmpenneedlecompared toa8mmpenneedle.Method: The experimentwas a sub study of a glycemic control trialof patientswith type 2 diabetes. Individuals of the grouphad ameanweight of 98.25 kg and greater than 50% of these individuals took atleast one insulin injection daily greater than 41 units. Over thecourse of the 6-month trial, 66 patients used a 8mm needle for thefirst three months of the study and a 5mm needle for the last threemonths. At the conclusion of the 6-month trial, questions wereposed in order to identify preference of specific needle attributes.Result: Analysis of thequestionnaire revealedpatients preferenceofthe 5mm needle over the 8mmneedle. Satisfaction scores regardingcomfort and ease of use scored higher for the 5mmneedle. The studyrevealed theoverall preference for the5mmneedlewas 41.80%whilethe8mmneedlewaspreferredby27.87%of thepopulation. The5mmneedle was equally effective at maintaining glycemic control as the8mm needle, as indicated by patient's consistent A1c values.Conclusion: Compared to 8mm needles, patients preferred the5mm needle. Shorter needles were considered to be morecomfortable, easier to use, and equally effective at delivering highinsulin doses while maintaining A1c.

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Comparison of Pre Versus Post-Prandial Self-Blood GlucoseMonitoringLORI D. BERARD, BRETT R. CAMERON, GREGOIRE NYOMBAWinnipeg, MB

Objective: The goal of this study is to determine whether self-monitoring of post-prandial glucose level results in better overallblood glucose control than measuring pre-prandial glucose levelsas determined by A1c results.Method: This 6-month study included 119 individuals with type 1and type 2 diabetes. Individuals were randomly assigned to performeither blood glucose monitoring before or after meals. Baseline A1cvalue was 8.86 for the pre group and 8.63 for the post group. Indi-viduals with A1c values below 7 were not included in the study.Patients came to the clinic each month to download their glucosemonitor, to provide their blood glucose diaries and tobe asked aboutany adjustment of their diabetes therapy. In addition at months 2, 4,and 6weights were obtained, general health status was determinedand A1c were measured. Important to clarify, all testing supplieswere standardized and provided free to the participants. No addi-tional self-management education was provided.Result: Analysis of the results revealed that both groups benefitedwith clinically relevant reduction in A1c with a high withdrawalrate in both groups. Patients testing their blood glucose beforemeals had a decrease in A1c of -0.66 while patients testing aftermeals had a decrease of -0.70 (not statistically significant betweengroups). End of study, the pre group had an average A1c of 8.24while the post group had 7.83.Conclusion: The study revealed that patients testing before andafter meals were equally effective at controlling their diabetes.

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Feasibility, Acceptability and Effects of a Foot Self-careEducational Intervention in Adult Patients with Diabetes at LowRisk for Foot Ulceration: A Pilot StudyLIFENG FAN*

Toronto, ON

Objectives: The objectives of the pilot study were to examine thefeasibility, acceptability and effects of the foot care educationalintervention on patients’ foot self-care knowledge, efficacy, andbehaviors, and the occurrence of minor foot problems in adultpatients with diabetes at low risk for foot ulceration.Methods: A one group repeated measures design was used. Thefour intervention sessions, which was given over a 3-week period,consisted of a 1-hour one-on-one provider-patient interaction to

discuss foot self-care strategies, 1-hour hands-on practice training,and two 10-minute telephone contact booster sessions. Seventyeligible participants were enrolled in the study, and 56 participantscompleted the study. The outcomes of the intervention wereassessed at pre-test, following the first two sessions, and 3-monthfollow-up. Repeated measures analysis of variance, and paired-ttest were used to examine changes in outcomes over time.Results: The findings provided initial evidence suggesting the footself-care educational intervention is feasible and acceptable topatients with type 2 diabetes. It was effective in improving patients’foot self-care knowledge (F (2, 54) ¼ 230.444, p < 0.01), self-effi-cacy (F (2, 54) ¼ 94.668, p < 0.01), and foot self-care behaviors (t(55)¼117.228, p < 0.01), in reducing the occurrence of minor footskin and toenails problems (all p<0.05) at 3-month follow-up.Conclusions: The findings from this pilot study support the effectsof the intervention. Future research should evaluate its efficacyusing a randomized clinical trial design, and a large sample ofpatients with diabetes at low risk for foot ulcerations.

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Mentorship: Support for Diabetes Educators in Their OwnWorkplaceDEBBIE E. HOLLAHAN*, WENDY J. GRAHAM*, SARAH E. CHRISTILAW,NANCY L. RAYMONDWaterloo Wellington, ON; Kitchener, ON

The mentorship programwas developed to build the knowledge,skill and judgment of new CDE staff to manage more complex dia-betes patients. The number of sessions per staff member was basedontheir experience, knowledge, skill-set andwillingness tocontinue.This approach reflects adult learning principles, assessment ofreadiness to learn, principles of motivational interviewing, andempowerment, which mirrors the concepts of diabetes education.

Confidentiality agreements were signed between thementor andorganization prior to participating with patients. Tracking sheetswere developed for data collection as well as evaluation tools.

The educator interacted with the client in the teaching session,with the backup of the mentor. At the end of the session, reflectionwas done by both the educator andmentor. Thementor critiqued thecounseling event focusing on developing motivational counselingskills, increasing the educators knowledge of diabetes related topics,offering ideas of alternate teaching strategies and most of all iden-tifying thepositiveknowledgeandskills theeducator is alreadyusingin the session, thus promoting confidence in the “art” of counseling.

Having an open agenda is essential for the success of thisprogram. The skill-set of the mentor is also essential for deliveringthis program, including extensive knowledge of diabetes, adultlearning principles, motivational interviewing skills and the “art” ofproviding constructive criticism.

Evaluations were distributed following the mentorship, assess-ing pre and post knowledge/ability and confidence. Evaluationsshowed an increase in both knowledge/ability and confidence inproviding education.

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Development of Easy-to-Use Drug Information Sheets forPatientsLORI A. MACCALLUM, STEFANIE T. KELLYToronto, ON

Background: Patient drug information sheets, although compre-hensive, often present the information in a way that may be over-whelming to patients and focus more on side effects than benefits.Knowing the benefits has been shown to be a motivating factor forincreasing patient adherence.