From Conversation to Care: Improving Outcomes in Diabetes Through Communication

Objectives: Effective, high-quality communication remains a cornerstone in the management of diabetes mellitus (DM). This review addresses how effective communication is crucial in navigating patients’ changing demands over time and how diabetes-specific communication can address the unique facets of patient-provider interactions and improve the long-term outcome of the disease. There is also emphasis on the importance of re-evaluating the way we discuss diabetes and the much-needed integration of communication skills in the medical curriculum. Methodology: The literature and information regarding this topic were collected from different original articles, review articles, systematic reviews and meta-analysis available on various platforms such as Google Scholar and pubmed. Results: Current available literature reveals that effective communication between an individual with diabetes and their healthcare provider has a pivotal role in improving the quality of care and also in mitigating the incidence of diabetic complications. As bi-directional communication is often missed in a busy outpatient clinic, the unmet need for improving communication skills in healthcare providers right from the undergraduate medical curriculum has to be addressed by implementing systematic and cost-effective strategies. Conclusion: As the prevalence of diabetes is increasing in alarming trends, training medical students regarding communication skills, availing multidisciplinary teams at diabetic clinics and implementing cutting-edge technologies like artificial intelligence will be the way forward in the quality management of diabetes.