Greetings to all the rock star diabetes care and education specialists out there! What a wonderful beginning to spring! I do hope everyone is doing great, feeling well, and looking forward to season changes in your neck of the woods. I would like to introduce myself to you all—my name is Amy Hess-Fischl, and I have been a dietitian and diabetes care and education specialist practicing in outpatient diabetes centers for over 25 years. I was born and raised in the Chicagoland area, and although I have massive wanderlust—just give me an excuse to travel somewhere—I have lived in and around Chicago my entire life. I currently work in the adult and pediatric endocrinology clinic at the University of Chicago Kovler Diabetes Center, where I am fortunate to work with some amazing people with diabetes and endocrinologists, nurse practitioners, nurses, psychologists, a social worker, medical assistants, and other RDN, CDCESs. It is such a pleasure to be the new editor for ADCES in Practice.
Although I know that I have big shoes to fill given that Teresa was at the helm for 13 years, I am up for the challenge. I am so very lucky that I am not alone in this. It is my honor to be working alongside Diana Pihos, director of communications and content strategy, and Danielle McNary-Moran, marketing and communications manager. Together, we will be managing the content of the journal.
There are a few new changes to the journal. In addition to the usual content that you have come to appreciate, there will also be updates from the various ADCES departments and committees. We are working on a different approach to how the content is presented. Instead of having specific departments or columns that will be included in every issue, the content will be divided into categories based on the ADCES7 Self-Care Behaviors: Healthy Eating, Being Active, Healthy Coping, Monitoring, Taking Medication, Reducing Risks, and Problem Solving. This is in addition to content from our committees and learnings from pilot projects, continuous quality improvement projects, and suggestions on how to translate research into practice. I also plan to keep the popular Test Your Knowledge Q&A.
Here is what I need from all of you: Please let me know what you want to read about, what works for you, and what does not. Is there something missing? Does the content apply to you regardless of where you work? After all, this journal is for you. What topic areas interest you most, and what topics need to be included more? Be specific about the exact topic and if you want to write it! Did you attend a presentation and the content spoke to you? Please pass it along to me, including the presenter’s name. Did you present on a specific topic and want to write about it? Bring it on! Please, don’t be shy. Let me know what topics you are interested in, and we can make it happen. I am specifically interested in more content on the following topics:
advanced nutrition skills and how to work more effectively with people who have diabetes
healthy coping
behavioral health tools and resources
diabetes education resources you use and why
how you deal with group classes
National Standards questions
how you approach/assess socioeconomic status and what resources do you use
personal experiences
patient stories
websites and organizations with great resources for ongoing support.
Not only are we are looking for authors, but we are looking for reviewers as well. If you are interested in reviewing articles for upcoming issues, please let me know what topics you are interested in or if you are open to anything.
Although this position is new and I have only been involved for the past few months, I want to take the time to thank the reviewers and authors for everything that they have done since I have started. I so appreciate you responding to my emails and working so efficiently. Of course, Diana and Danielle, I cannot thank you enough for your collaborations and making it so easy to work and learn together. And I would be remiss if I did not thank you, wonderful readers. Thank you for getting up every day and working with people with diabetes and prediabetes. With your help, ADCES in Practice will continue to achieve ADCES’s mission: Empower diabetes care and education specialists to expand the horizons of innovative education, management, and support. Until next time . . . but keep those thoughts coming!
Email Amy at: inpractice@adces.org