Self Care Management of Diabetes

The world's elderly population with diabetes is growing and self-management has its challenges, not only because of the complications that age brings, but also because of possible co-existing diseases. It is important to identify the influence of age and its complications of diabetes self-management, so that effective and efficient strategies can be created to combat the complications associated with the disease. Elderly diabetics are a heterogeneous group with varying clinical, functional and psychosocial characteristics and, in order to achieve efficient and effective self-management, specific self-management behaviors must be taken into account on an ongoing basis in order to avoid complications. An individualized, multi-faceted approach to diabetes management should be taken and an investment should be made in diabetes self-management education. Therefore, this review focuses on the influence of advanced age and its complications on the the elderly diabetes self-management and proposes strategies for effective self-management of the disease.