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Topic | Message type | Example text message |
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Medication | Education | To get the most out of your medicines, you need to take them as prescribed and on time, every day. Even if you are not feeling sick. |
Prompt | Reminder: Time for your medicine! |
Feedback | Reminder: Think about the last time you didn't take your medications. What happened? Think about what you can do to prevent it from happening again. |
Assessment | In the last 7 days how many days did you take all of your diabetes medications? |
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Glucose Monitoring | Education | A good blood sugar within two hours after eating is less than 180 mg/dL. A good fasting (before breakfast) blood sugar is 80 to 125 mg/dL |
Encouragement | Monitoring blood sugars is not just so your doctor knows how you are doing. Glucose monitoring is a tool for YOU to know how you are doing. |
Feedback | 7 for 7, perfect job! (in response to self-report of perfect adherence to glucose monitoring) |
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Nutrition | Education | Corn and potatoes may be vegetables, but they are also starches that can increase your blood sugar. Stick to non-starchy vegetables like spinach and carrots. |
Tip | If it's not in your kitchen, you probably won't eat it. Avoid temptation by not keeping desserts or unhealthy snacks in the house. |
Encouragement | Developing a tasty but healthy food plan with diabetes can be hard. Diabetes educators can help. Do you want to meet with one? (yes/no) |
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Foot Care | Education | Increased blood sugars can cause nerve damage to the foot and decrease circulation. Over time this can lead to pain, infection, and other foot problems. |
Prompt | Reminder: Check your feet every day. You should look between the toes and bottoms of your feet for cuts, cracks, or anything else out of the usual. |
Tip | Reminder: Make a daily foot check part of your routine. Do it as you step out of the shower or when you take your shoes off at the end of the day. |
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Exercise | Education | Did you know that experts recommend moderate physical activity for at least 30 minutes 4 times per week? (yes/no) |
Tip | Lifting small weights at home or while you jog can build muscle and lower your blood sugars. No weights? Use a can of vegetables! |
Encouragement | It doesn't take hours of sweat-soaked exercise to get the benefits of exercise, even short period of gentle exercise can do a lot! |
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Living with a Chronic Illness | Education “Health Navigation” module | Tip: Your clinic has a way to see urgent patients the same day or within 48 hours. When you are not feeling well, the emergency room is not your only option. |
Education “Dealing with Stress” | Tip: Did you know that stress increases your blood sugars? In fact, not only can stress increase your sugars but high sugars can also increase your stress. |
Encouragement “Social Support” | Tip: Everyone feels bad about their diabetes from time to time, even if they have had it for a while. It's what you do with those feelings that count. |
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