Building Competency in Diabetes Education THE ESSENTIALS

SELF-MANAGEMENT EDUCATION & SUPPORT: PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT| 11-57

• Emphasize that freewheeling is welcome (i.e. any idea should be welcomed without judging its merit at the time). • Emphasize that “hitchhiking” is desirable; the idea is to generate ideas. • Discourage criticism; establish this rule at the onset. • Record ideas. • End the session when no further ideas are forthcoming. It may be practical to limit the time, however.

• Evaluate ideas separately, after the brainstorming portion is complete. • Provide the group with a summary of the ideas generated, if possible.

Tips for facilitating a values clarification session: • Create a supportive atmosphere and maintain a non-judgmental approach. • Encourage participants to verbalize their thoughts and the reasons for their beliefs, and to explore alternatives. • Clarify by values voting (participants indicate support for/against a statement). • Use problem-solving exercises. • Use completion of unfinished sentences as another technique to raise issues.