Who We Are

1. More About Kris More About Betty Who We Are • Complete current information – people with diabetes and their providers need to understand all the choices and possibilities • Skill – because what you do makes more difference than what you know. • Support – because diabetes is a burden, sometimes lighter sometimes heavier, but always there. Diabetes is easier to carry with support. • Respect – because you deserve it. Whether you are a person with diabetes or a provider working in the field. This isn’t easy. • Love – because DMTC’s programs promote and guide “relationship centered care.” Most medical care is “fear based.” That’s not who we are here, and it doesn’t work for most people anyway. • And, believe it or not, a GOOD TIME -- diabetes is serious but it doesn’t have to be grim. Jokes, cartoons, and the simple reality of being human mean that laughter is both possible and desirable as we come together to make a difference in the lives of people with diabetes Welcome. We’re Kris Swenson and Betty Brackenridge, diabetes educators who have spent a lot of years (over fifty between us) listening to our patients. We’ve built DMTC’s programs on what we’ve learned from people who live with this disease and from the best today’s science has to offer. Here’s what we value and work to bring to everything we do. Our patients tell us they are the most important things. And they are essential to achieving effective, long-term control.

2. Kris Swenson, RN, CDE, DMTC Founder and Director of Development, is also owner of The Clinical Education Group in Phoenix, AZ. With more than twenty years experience in diabetes, Kris has designed and implemented integrated diabetes care and education programs for hospitals, home health agencies, and ambulatory facilities throughout the country. The Diabetes Disease Management intervention that she designed has demonstrated a 4% drop in glycosylated hemoglobin (the cardinal measure of diabetes control) and the elimination of hospitalizations for acute diabetes complications in the populations served. The program includes a combination of systems improvements, targeted interventions, patient centered education, primary care team approaches, and case management. Kris is in great demand as a speaker before both lay and professional audiences because of her unique combination of “in the trenches” realism and strong patient advocacy.

3. Betty Brackenridge, MS, RD, CDE,is Owner and Director of Professional Training for Diabetes Management and Training Centers, Inc. (DMTC) in Phoenix, Arizona. DMTC’s unique diabetes education approach engages people in discovering their own best way to manage diabetes. She has served as President of the American Association of Diabetes Educators; on the Center for Disease Control’s Technical Advisory Committee on Diabetes; as a member of the editorial boards of several professional and lay publications in the diabetes field; and as a co-opted consultant to the International Diabetes Federation’s Diabetes Education Consultative Section. She is a frequent and popular speaker on a variety of clinical, behavioral and educational topics, making 30 or more presentations each year to audiences of both health professionals and people with diabetes. She has written many patient education publications in diabetes. The most recent of her many publications is Diabetes Myths, Misconceptions and Big Fat Lies! (DMTC, 2002), a user-friendly guide to making diabetes control and a satisfying life into a package deal. Another of her books is Sweet Kids (American Diabetes Association, 2002), a guide to pediatric diabetes nutrition management in the context of family relationships. Her other book, the third edition of Diabetes 101, is an innovative book for insulin-using patients told in story form (John Wiley and Sons, 2000).