Tarrytown, NY (August 2, 2007) – Dr. Stephen Covey, author of the bestselling book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People®, and an internationally respected leadership authority, has teamed up with The American Association of Diabetes Educators (AADE) and Bayer Diabetes Care to introduce a unique patient education tool, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People® with Diabetes.
Currently, more than 14 million people in the US have been diagnosed with diabetes. It is estimated that another 6.2 million people are undiagnosed. Diabetes is a chronic disease that needs to be carefully managed and closely monitored. If diabetes is not managed well or is left untreated it can lead to serious, sometimes life-threatening complications, such as heart disease, stroke, kidney failure, blindness and limb amputations. According to a new GfK Roper Public Affairs survey of people with diabetes, sponsored by Bayer Diabetes Care, 80 percent reported that they are not managing their disease well.
“I have spent my life teaching people how to set and accomplish goals in their personal and professional lives, and am now applying my habits to help people better manage their diabetes,” said Covey. “I know diabetes can be challenging to live with, and I have gained an even deeper understanding of that fact since my wife was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. Together, with changes in behavior, we turned the diabetes ‘curve ball’ into an opportunity to learn, grow and deepen our lives.”
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People® with Diabetes bookletis a practical resource guide to help people with diabetes adapt life management skills as defined by Covey’s “7 Habits” and apply them to the AADE7™ Self-Care Behaviors to achieve better disease management.
The booklet advises people to take small steps to manage their chronic illness and to incorporate each of the self-care behaviors into their lives. For example, by applying Covey’s Habit 1: Be Proactive, people with diabetes are encouraged to actively take responsibility for managing their condition by following the AADE7™ Self-Care Behaviors, such as healthy eating, being active and monitoring blood glucose levels. Also included is an action plan for setting easy-to-achieve self-care goals, one at a time.
“With the increasing epidemic of diabetes, the time is right to provide people living with this chronic illness a new approach to facilitate the needed behavior change to positively impact their disease,” said Donna Rice, MBA, BSN, RN, CDE, president of the AADE and a diabetes educator. “Covey’s habits, paired with the AADE7™ Self-Care Behaviors, do just that. We’re grateful to Bayer Diabetes Care for supporting the development of this important resource, which is also valuable for family, friends and caretakers of those diagnosed with diabetes.”
“We are really delighted to be the catalyst that brings together Covey’s world renowned 7 Habits and the AADE7™ Self-Care Behaviors for this new resource that we hope will be an inspiration to people with diabetes,” said Sandra Peterson, President of Bayer Diabetes Care.
The GfK Roper Public Affairs March 2007 survey, conducted among 1,069 U.S. adults with diabetes, was designed to identify the specific points when managing one’s life and managing one’s diabetes do not match up, as well as the barriers that adults living with diabetes need to overcome. To gather these findings, the survey questions were based on the life management habits outlined in Covey’s The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People® and the American Association of Diabetes Educators’ AADE7™ Self-Care Behaviors. Survey data were weighted to reflect the demographic profile of the U.S. adult population, doctor-diagnosed with diabetes. The margin of sampling error is plus/minus five percentage points.
Covey’s 7 Habits
Habit 1 – Be Proactive
Habit 2 – Begin with the End in Mind
Habit 3 – Put First Things First
Habit 4 – Think Win/Win
Habit 5 – Seek First to Understand,
Then to Be Understood
Habit 6 – Synergize
Habit 7 – Sharpen the Saw
AADE7™ Self-Care Behaviors
1. Healthy Eating
2. Being Active
3. Monitoring
4. Taking Medication
5. Problem Solving
6. Reducing Risks
7. Healthy Coping
Using the habits outlined in Covey’s The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People®,as well as the AADE7™ Self-Care Behaviors, survey respondents were classified into the following four segments and compared:
- those that manage both their life and diabetes well; 12 percent
- those that manage neither their life nor diabetes well; 56 percent
- those that manage their life, but not their diabetes well; 24 percent
- those that manage their diabetes, but not their life well; 8 percent
The survey suggests that successfully mastering specific life management skills can have a very positive impact on one’s diabetes as well. For instance, prioritizing is critical. Adults with diabetes who manage their lives and diabetes well are twice as likely as those who manage neither their lives nor their condition effectively to say they excel at prioritizing and acting on important issues in their lives (90 percent vs. 46 percent). When it comes to diabetes management, it should be a high priority for people to monitor their blood sugar daily in order to maintain consistent blood glucose level control. The survey found that those who manage their lives and diabetes well are more likely than those not managing either well to test their blood sugar seven days a week (75 percent vs. 59 percent).
For more information about The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People® with Diabetes, or to receive a copy at no charge, please go to www.diabetes7.org.
About FranklinCovey
FranklinCoveyÒ (NYSE:FC) is a global leader in effectiveness training, productivity tools, and assessment services for organizations and individuals. FranklinCovey helps companies succeed by unleashing the power of their workforce to focus and execute on top business priorities. Clients include 90 percent of the Fortune 100, more than 75 percent of the Fortune 500, thousands of small and mid-sized businesses, as well as numerous government entities and educational institutions. Organizations and individuals access FranklinCovey products and services through
corporate training, licensed client facilitators, one-on-one coaching, public workshops, catalogs, 87 retail stores and www.franklincovey.com. FranklinCovey has nearly 1,500 associates providing professional services and products in 39 offices and in 95 countries.
About AADE
Founded in 1973, the American Association of Diabetes Educators (AADE) is a
multidisciplinary professional membership organization of healthcare professionals dedicated to integrating successful self-management as a key outcome in the care of people with diabetes and related conditions. AADE has more than 12,000 members
Bayer HealthCare, Diabetes Care
Bayer HealthCare, Diabetes Care is a worldwide leader in diabetes, supporting customers in 100 countries. Since the introduction of CLINITEST® reagent tablets in 1941, Bayer has led the way in diabetes care product innovation. The company changed the face of diabetes care in 1969 when it introduced the first portable blood glucose meter and test strips. Bayer HealthCare further innovated diabetes management by being the first company to introduce a suite of blood glucose monitors with No Coding™ technology. The BREEZE®2 and CONTOUR® blood glucose monitoring systems offer people with diabetes an unparalleled choice in diabetes management systems. The Arthritis Foundation in the United States and the Arthritis Society of Canada each granted Ease-of Use Commendation to the
BREEZE2 meter. BREEZE® represents the first time a blood glucose meter has been recognized as easy to use for arthritis sufferers.
In July 2006, Bayer Diabetes Care acquired Metrika Inc., maker and manufacturer of A1CNow+, a meter-based diabetes monitoring system for measurement of A1C (glycated hemoglobin) an important indicator of long term blood sugar control. Bayer HealthCare, Diabetes Care global headquarters is located in Tarrytown, New York, in the United States and operates as part of Bayer HealthCare LLC, a member of the worldwide Bayer HealthCare group.
Bayer HealthCare
Bayer HealthCare, a subsidiary of Bayer AG, is one of the world’s leading, innovative companies in the healthcare and medical products industry and is based in Leverkusen, Germany. The company combines the global activities of the Animal Health, Consumer Care, Diabetes Care and Pharmaceuticals divisions. The pharmaceuticals business operates under the name Bayer Schering Pharma AG. Bayer HealthCare’s aim is to discover and manufacture products that will improve human and animal health worldwide.
This news release contains forward-looking statements based on current assumptions and forecasts made by Bayer Group management. Various known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors could lead to material differences between the actual future results, financial situation, development or performance of the company and the estimates given here. These factors include those discussed in our public reports filed with the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (including our Form 20-F). The company assumes no liability whatsoever to update these forward-looking statements or to inform them to future events or developments.
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