Deborah A. Greenwood BSN, Med, PhD, RN, BC-ADM, CDE, SAADE

Deborah is a clinical nurse specialist, diabetes care and education specialist (formerly CDE), and researcher. Since 2017 she has been consulting in diabetes and digital health industry ensuring evidence-based diabetes self-management education and support (DSMES) principles are incorporated into the development and use of diabetes technologies. Her experience spans the fields of quality improvement, patient engagement, consumer informatics, patient-generated health data, and social media for self-management support. She is also passionate about the use of person-centered, strength-based language and writes a blog about the use of a solution-focused approach (vs problem-centered) to diabetes care and education.

Our blog, A Fresh POV for You is an innovative approach to diabetes care and education. We are incorporating Solutions Focused Brief Therapy practices and applying principles to diabetes self-management. Let's change the way we talk about diabetes. Instead of focusing on problems, let's think about solutions! Let's use strengths to re-frame our challenges. Our goal is to focus on possibilities, opportunities and creating a fresh vision for the future.

Deborah’s worked in diabetes for her entire career, beginning at the Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston. Prior to consulting, she worked for 11 years at Sutter Health developing the largest accredited DSMES program in the US. She oversaw diabetes quality initiatives across 26 hospitals, 5 physician groups, and over 60 diabetes educators throughout northern CA. At Sutter, she led the AMGA Together 2 Goal campaign by engaging primary care providers across the system to improve type 2 diabetes outcomes.

Deborah earned her Ph.D. in Nursing Science and Healthcare Leadership at UC Davis, her master's degree in education from Boston College, and her nursing degree from the University of Vermont. Deborah is an Adjunct, Assistant Professor at UT Health, San Antonio, Arizona State University, and The Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing, University of California, Davis. She's involved in several research projects focused on digital health. She has published on behavior change, technology-enabled DSMES, digital health, e-Patient engagement, and social media. She has been an invited speaker in the US and internationally. Deborah was the 2015 President of AADE and now volunteers on several committees. She also serves on the board of directors for Diabetes Sisters and on the National Advisory Council for the Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing, UC Davis.