Over the past month, I had the opportunity to deliver Conversation Map training sessions to educators in eastern Oklahoma and Flagstaff, Arizona. Not only did I meet a lot of great people, but I also learned more about the American Indian population. In my many years of practice outside of Chicago, I encountered only a handful of American Indian patients.

We are saddened to learn that our guest blogger, Bob Boardman, recently passed away. Our hearts and thoughts go out to Bob’s family and friends. His final blog post is below. Hi again. Nice to be back. One of the things I like most about the Conversation Map tools is their flexibility.

Hi again! Nice to be back with a few more thoughts on diabetes and interacting with patients. He arrives early and opens the laptop. There's his glucose log, food diary, activity record. His numbers look great, so much better than the last time. He took my suggestions to heart and now he's seen the light!!!

Long before I became a Certified Diabetes Educator (CDE), I was providing Diabetes Self-Management Education (DSME) as a registered dietitian in an ADA Recognized Program. I had lots of education and experience in diabetes, but was not working towards my CDE. I thank a former manager for encouraging me to become certified, which I did in 2002. In the process, I was fortunate to work with other CDE’s who helped me achieve this goal.

I have happy memories of the diabetes rotation during my dietetic internship program. As an intern, one of my duties was to go from patient room to patient room, gathering participants for diabetes class. We had a spacious classroom available on the unit, complete with a blackboard, teaching materials, and comfortable chairs.

Does the following scenario sound familiar? You, an intelligent healthcare professional, sit at your desk at home attempting to set up your new smart phone or create an Excel document. No matter how hard you try, you cannot get the job done! Suddenly, a teenager waiting to use your desktop enters, grabbing the mouse or phone from your hand announcing,” This is SO easy! Here, I’ll show you how to do it!”

My name is Bob Boardman and I’m an RN CDE at a rural hospital in Washington State. We’ve been using Conversation Map ® education tools for over a year and I’m a big fan. The folks at Healthy Interactions wanted to know how we’d come to adopt the Maps. Here’s our story.