Over my 28 years as a diabetes care and education specialist (DCES), I’ve come to realize the importance of recognizing the emotional impact of living with diabetes that often gets overlooked. In fact, I adopted the empowerment approach to diabetes care and education in the early 2000s, and my research has been focused on language and messaging in diabetes.
Another area that often gets overlooked came to my attention in my first month as president of our specialty organization: advocacy. If I’m being honest, advocacy, in the traditional sense, has never been a strength of mine. In one of the courses I taught for the past 13 years, we had a discussion about advocacy. We talked about how advocacy can take different forms and that everything counts!
DCESs advocate for people living with diabetes every single day and in various ways. My main advocacy efforts have been through studying, writing, and teaching/sharing about how important our words and messages are when talking to or about people with diabetes. I’m sure you can each come up with multiple ways you advocate for the individuals you work with and care about.
At ADCES, we have a director of advocacy and an Advocacy Committee. This doesn’t sound like a lot of people, and it’s not nearly enough for the critical nature of this work! People who meet with legislators to solve problems and go to bat for our specialty are some of the unsung heroes in diabetes care and education. Without advocacy, we wouldn’t have diabetes care and education, which means you and I wouldn’t have jobs and the people we care about wouldn’t get the services they need.
I conducted a mini “interview” with Hannah Martin, director of advocacy, so you can get a better idea of her background and her important work.
JKD: How did you get interested in advocacy?
HM: I first became interested in nutrition policy as a profession in undergraduate when the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act and the Affordable Care Act were both passed, and I began to realize the influence of government laws and regulations on all the things I was learning about in my nutrition and public health classes.
JKD: What’s your work history in advocacy?
HM: After finishing my MPH and becoming an RD, I worked at a bipartisan think tank on nutrition and public health issues and served in a policy role for my state Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics affiliate where I was first exposed to bills like the DSMT Act. I then had the opportunity to join the staff at the Academy to cover health policy and then came to ADCES after several years.
JKD: Why did you join ADCES?
HM: I had worked closely with ADCES while at the Academy and so was very familiar with the organization and its great work. After nearly 10 years in nutrition, public health, and health care advocacy, I was excited for the opportunity to lead ADCES’s advocacy work.
JKD: What do you find most rewarding in your work?
HM: I am passionate both about helping bring about meaningful change for millions of Americans who need better access to care and the opportunity to help health care professionals use their voice collectively to push for change.
JKD: Please describe the recent wins we’ve had, what they mean, and what still needs to happen.
HM: The last few years have seen many wins in diabetes policy, from expanded coverage of CGM, reduced copays for insulin, expanded access to telehealth, and piece-meal improvements to the DSMT and the diabetes prevention program in Medicare. We also had an historic first of the DSMT Act being considered and passed by a committee in the House of Representatives. While we have many things we want to see come to fruition, two of the biggest are getting Congress to pass a law by the end of the year to make telehealth permanent in Medicare and getting both Congress and CMS to improve the DSMT benefit to make it easier to access.
JKD: Thank you, Hannah!
I have attended ADCES’s Public Policy Forum multiple times, and I have learned about what happens at the (federal) government level to support diabetes care and education. I have not, however, had the opportunity to attend a “Hill Day” yet. I am very hopeful that next year I can participate in this incredibly important opportunity to tell my legislators about the value of our work. I hope you will, too!
I am also looking forward to ADCES’s inaugural State Policy Forum that will take place this fall. In this half-day virtual session, attendees will learn about advocating for improvements in state Medicaid coverage for DSMES, continuous glucose monitors, and obesity medications. They will be able to take these lessons back to their state and advocate for change in 2025 and beyond.
Oh, and PS: One way you can advocate for our specialty as a member of ADCES is to VOTE FOR YOUR LEADERSHIP! The election is taking place right now—check your email inbox and vote by July 31. Then be sure to attend our Annual Conference in New Orleans (August 9-12) to hear the results!!