Introduction to the IDN edition on older people with diabetes

Abstract

Introduction This edition of International Diabetes Nursing focuses on older people with diabetes. It addresses some key care issues from the perspectives of experts who manage older people with diabetes. We hope the papers stimulate thought and some debate, including through letters to the editor. Most guidelines for the care of older people with diabetes are based on the best available evidence, but they are essentially expert consensus opinion, because there is very little randomised control trial evidence to support recommendations. Evidence for best practice care in aged care homes is especially lacking. One reason for the lack of evidence is that many older people with diabetes do not meet the ‘exclusionary’ inclusion criteria. While clinical guidelines must be based on the ‘best available evidence’: it is also imperative that they make clinical sense and that the content, language and design meet the needs of clinicians. That is, the content must be relevant to specific situations in which older people with diabetes receive care.