August 12, 2025
By Donna Sutton, Lead Community Diabetes Specialist Nurse / Queen’s Nurse and Diabetes Clinical Lead, Spirit Health.
You’ve delivered the diagnosis, checked their HbA1c, issued their medication, and maybe even booked a follow-up. But they don’t come back. Or, more likely, they don’t book onto or attend their structured diabetes education – even though you know it could change everything for them.
The motivation problem
Structured diabetes education works. We’ve seen it lower HbA1c, improve self-management, and help people live better with type 2 diabetes – even if you just look at our EMPOWER sessions. But let’s be honest, this isn’t enough to get patients to attend.
Common reasons for patients not attending, tend to be:
“I don’t have time.”
“It’s not that bad.”
“I already know what to do.”
These reasons are understandable – they’ve just been given life-altering information that can be hard to accept. However, the motivation to face their condition is often planted in the first conversation they have with their healthcare professional.
We set the tone
How we frame type 2 diabetes at diagnosis is everything. Too soft, and patients don’t feel the urgency. Too clinical, and they might disengage. Too doom-and-gloom, and they can shut down.
What we need is clarity. That means:
- Explaining what diabetes is doing inside their body.
- Helping them understand the why behind the what – not just “take this medication,” but “here’s what this medication is doing, and here’s what happens if you don’t start taking it.”
- Highlighting that the condition is progressive but modifiable, and that structured education is one of the best investments they can make in slowing that progression.
Too often, structured education is positioned as a “nice-to-have.” It’s not. It’s a game-changer. But patients won’t treat it that way unless we do too.
Understanding isn’t a luxury, it’s a necessity
We all know healthcare services are stretched, there isn’t always time for a long appointment to explain everything we need to but understanding fuels motivation. If someone doesn’t know how insulin resistance works, why would they prioritise learning about it?
In consultations with patients, it’s important that the healthcare practitioner:
- Use everyday language – “sugar sticking in your blood” might make more sense than “elevated glucose levels.”
- Give real-world examples – why their uncle’s amputation wasn’t “just bad luck.”
- Highlight the payoff – “four hours of learning now could save you hospital time later.”
This isn’t about scaring patients, it’s about helping them see diabetes for what it is: something serious, but manageable, if they act now.
The barriers are real – but so are the solutions
We hear the same objections from patients:
“I work full-time.”
“It’s too far away.”
“I don’t like groups.”
So, let’s meet them where they are.
Flexibility is key. That’s why our education at EMPOWER is just four hours long and can be delivered face-to-face, remotely or even 1-on-1. We need to shout about structured diabetes education more, not just once, but every time we speak to them. Patients forget. Life gets in the way. A one-off mention of education isn’t enough.
Follow-up matters. Education isn’t a tick-box, it’s a process. Invite them again. Remind them. Ask them why they didn’t attend (without judgement). Be annoyingly persistent (but empathetic).
Clinicians hold the key
Here’s the uncomfortable truth: patients often don’t take their diabetes seriously because we might not have helped them to.
The first five minutes of that first conversation? That’s our window. Make it real. Make it relevant. Make them see why education matters, before complications do.
A final thought
At Spirit Health, we deliver EMPOWER, a four-hour structured diabetes education programme that’s designed to meet people where they are – in-person or online. But this isn’t about ticking boxes. It’s about transforming how we help people live with diabetes.
And it all starts with us. If you’re interested in learning more about our diabetes education courses, just visit our programmes or email askempower@spirit-health.com.
