Pharmacy U Vancouver presenter Susie Jin: "How can we optimize community pharmacy workflow when it comes to glucose sensors and diabetes care?"

Susie Jin will be presenting at Pharmacy U Vancouver on Nov. 4, 2023.

Based on the Diabetes Canada “Diabetes in Canada 2022 Backgrounder” report (1), approximately one in every three people in your pharmacy live with either diabetes or prediabetes. This staggering statistic emphasizes the opportunity that presents in community pharmacy to make a significant impact in reducing the burden of diabetes in our communities. We MUST take deliberate action to RECOGNIZE people at risk of diabetes to support them in diabetes prevention and to RECOGNIZE people living with diabetes to support them in preventing diabetes complications.

Diabetes complications are associated with premature death, reducing a person’s lifespan by five to 15 years (2). People with diabetes are over three times more likely to be hospitalized with cardiovascular disease, and 12 times more likely to be hospitalized with end-stage renal disease compared to the general population (2).

In recognizing that diabetes care is “not just about blood sugars” (3), Diabetes Canada has developed a tool to support a holistic ABCDES3 approach to diabetes management. In adults with type 2 diabetes and established, or high risk of, atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, heart failure, and/or chronic kidney disease, cardiovascular and renal protective agents should be initiated, even if the adult is at their glycemic target, i.e., regardless of their A1C (4). When a person is above their individualized glycemic targets, any of the following may be used in combination to support a person in getting to, and staying at, their glycemic goals:

• Healthy lifestyle behaviours, which may include a low-carbohydrate diet (5)
• Individualized Continuous Glucose Monitoring (CGM) technology, providing the person is willing to act on CGM data to improve their health outcomes (6)
• Pharmacologic agents that preferably (4):
  • Provide adequate blood glucose lowering efficacy
  • Support weight management
  • Do not cause (or are minimally-associated with) hypoglycemia

At Pharmacy U Vancouver I will be discussing how pharmacists can apply a step-wise approach in practice to support the one out of every seven people living with type 2 diabetes (7) in your community pharmacies. After attending the session titled, “GLP-1RA Therapy and Building a Community Pharmacy Diabetes Practice: A Winning Combination,” participants will be ready to identify people with type 2 diabetes in their community pharmacies who would benefit from optimizing glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist (GLP-1 RA) therapy. Participants will then be able to support adults with T2D in their community pharmacies to individualize their diabetes self-management.

REFERENCES:

1. Diabetes in Canada: Backgrounder. Ottawa: Diabetes Canada; 2022.
2. Diabetes in Canada: Facts and figures from a public health perspective [Internet]. Ottawa: Public Health Agency of Canada; 2011 p. 126. Available from: https://www.canada.ca/content/dam/phac-aspc/migration/phac-aspc/cd-mc/publications/diabetes-diabete/facts-figures-faits-chiffres-2011/pdf/facts-figures-faits-chiffres-eng.pdf
3. https://guidelines.diabetes.ca/docs/patient-resources/my-diabetes-care-not-just-about-blood-sugar.pdf
4. Lipsombe L, Booth G, Butalia S, Dasgupta K, et al. Diabetes Canada 2018 Clinical Practice Guidelines for the Prevention and Management of Diabetes in Canada: Pharmacologic Glycemic Management of Type 2 Diabetes in Adults. Can J Diabetes 2018;42(Suppl 1):S88-S103.
5. https://www.diabetes.ca/media-room/press-releases/new-guidance-regarding-low-carbohydrate-diets-for-adults-living-with-diabetes
6. Cheng AYY, Feig DS, Ho J, Siemens R, et al. Special Article: Blood Glucose Monitoring in Adults and Children with Diabetes: Update 2021. Can J Diabetes 2021;45:580-587.
7. Canadian Diabetes Cost Model. Ottawa: Diabetes Canada; 2016.

Susie Jin will be presenting at Pharmacy U Vancouver on Nov. 4, 2023.