Expert panel opinion on the optimal educational pathway for diabetes educators for training people with type 1 diabetes on the MiniMed™ 780G system: a Delphi consensus

The MiniMed™ 780G system is an advanced insulin pump system incorporating an AHCL (Advanced Hybrid Close Loop) algorithm that automatically adjusts insulin delivery based on glucose levels. All guidelines recommend the use of Automated Insulin Delivery therapy for people with type 1 diabetes (PWT1D) and they highlight that a specifically trained and expert team should provide training on HCL systems for PWT1D, but none of the publications detail the curriculum profile that diabetes educators should have. This paper aims to establish a consensus on the optimal educational pathway for diabetes educators on the MiniMed™ 780G system.

An Expert Panel (EP) of 11 key opinion educators in diabetes technology in the EMEA area was assembled. Using the Delphi method, a consensus questionnaire based on the literature research was created, discussed and validated by the EP members. An agreement level of ≥ 75% was considered a strong consensus.

EP members had on average 16.3 years of clinical experience and followed at least 50 PWT1D using the MiniMed™ 780G system. All EP members agreed that a structured educational pathway to train diabetes educators in the use of the MiniMed™ 780G system is needed. 100% of the EP members agreed that the pathway should include a mentorship programme and in-field training; 90% agreed on using face-to-face training with the support of e-learning modules. The EP members believed that minimum competency standards for diabetes educators around the principles of diabetes care and education are needed.

The educational pathway created by the EP showed that skills are needed at an advanced level and that mentorship in developing these skills is critical. This pathway is vital for supporting the implementation of diabetes technology into everyday life and can remove barriers and increase access to PWT1D.