Background: With the increasing elderly population,, diabetes clinics are facing distinct challenges . The aim of this study is to determine the priority of key standards of the structure and process of education for elderly people with diabetes.
Methods: This descriptive applied study was conducted in diabetes clinics in Isfahan in 1404 by receiving the opinions of two main stakeholder groups including 170 elderly people with diabetes through convenience sampling and 35 service providers through full enumeration. A valid and reliable researcher-made questionnaire (Cronbach's alpha above 0.78) was used to collect data through questionnaire and self-report methods after receiving the necessary permissions, observing ethical considerations and informed consent, and the data were analyzed in descriptive tables with SPSS21.
Findings: Key priorities of the educational standards for elderly patients were explained in the structure area with 48 items in 6 topics (environmental facilities, preliminary preparations, media and interactive technologies, considerations for social networks, training specialist /human resources and their visit programs) and in the process area with 55 items in 6 topics (training needs assessment, considerations for effective communication, before, during and after training, and overall evaluation of program effectiveness).
Since paying attention to the standards of structure and process of patient education for elders is effective in improving their self-care and quality of life, it is recommende make the necessary efforts to establish standards by policymakers in determined order of the structure and the process priorities for elderly patient education in diabetes gradually.