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Program Services

The DCPNS Provides:

  • Diabetes expertise, including program planning and evaluation.
  • Standardized documentation, statistics keeping, and referral forms.
  • Guidelines for special populations (e.g., pregnancy, pediatrics, elderly residents with diabetes in long-term care facilities, and individuals with prediabetes) and specific complications/co-morbidities (e.g., hypertension, dyslipidemia, renal impairment, and foot problems).
  • Access to new knowledge and knowledge translation through newsletters/bulletins and annotated bibliographies, annual provincial and/or regional workshops, and facility or diabetes surveys.
  • Enhanced networking across and between programs and provider groups.
  • Provincial policy and procedures (including exams) for insulin dose adjustment and Diabetes Centre (DC) grants for quality improvement initiatives.
  • Access to local, regional, and provincial diabetes data as well as data analysis support and reporting (see below—Managing Diabetes Data for Nova Scotia).

To view a graphic depicting program activities, please click here.

Managing Diabetes Data for Nova Scotia

The Diabetes Care Program of Nova Scotia (DCPNS) manages the province’s diabetes databases, including the Canadian Chronic Disease Surveillance System (CCDSS) Nova Scotia diabetes dataset and the DCPNS Registry. The Registry, built and maintained by DCPNS staff, is inclusive of all attendees (including new referrals and follow-up clients) to Nova Scotia’s DCs since April 1, 1994; and clients < 19 years of age since 1992.

As of March 31, 2016, the Registry contained over 103,000 individual cases (all ages and all types of diabetes and prediabetes), of which close to 85,000 were still living. The DCPNS Registry allows for the collection of a number of data elements (DCPNS Registry Description). For DCs that use the on-site Registry, additional data related to clinical indicators (blood pressure, glycated hemoglobin, creatinine, etc.) and self-care practices (frequency of self-monitoring of blood glucose, date of last eye examination, etc.) are collected.

These databases provide invaluable data to the province, NSHA and the IWK, individual DCs, and referring physicians/health care providers.

The data are used in support of provincial initiatives, for program and business planning at the Zone level, performance/program evaluation, and to assess the merit of targeted interventions or quality improvement programs. DCs using the on-site DCPNS Registry benefit from population and individual level reports. Local data are used to target interventions in keeping with key quality indicators.

For a complete description of the data sources, review our Statistics section under Reports and Statistics.

The Program Is Currently Involved in / or Supporting Research / Partnerships That Include:

  • Promoting the Diabetes Physical Activity & Exercise ToolKit (2010), now a CDA resource, in Nova Scotia DCs and among other health care providers.
  • Promoting consistent messaging and approaches for self-monitoring of blood glucose among and between various health care provider groups (physicians, pharmacists, and diabetes educators) for individuals with non-insulin using type 2 diabetes.
  • Increasing awareness of high blood pressure (risks, prevention, early detection, and management) among the general public and provider groups.
  • Improving chronic disease prevention and management through focused work that will bridge health care and community services/providers as well as the promotion and development of community-based lifestyle programming, etc.
  • Developing referral pathways for persons with or at risk of developing diabetes mellitus.
  • Gaining a better understanding of the burden of chronic diseases in Nova Scotia through joint surveillance work (across Provincial Program).