For last week’s practice question, we quizzed participants on which response BEST supports sustainable medication-taking. 77% of respondents chose the best answer. We want to clarify and share this important information, so you can pass it on to people living with diabetes and your colleagues, plus prepare for exam success!
Before we start though, if you don’t want any spoilers and haven’t tried the question yet, you can answer it by clicking here.
Jordan is a 52-year-old person living with type 2 diabetes whose provider recently added a second daily medication after their A1C rose from 7.6% to 9.1%. Jordan works alternating shifts and cares for an aging parent. At a follow-up visit, Jordan reports consistently taking their morning dose but missing the evening dose “more nights than not.”
Jordan says, “My schedule’s never the same two days in a row. By the time I remember, I’ve already gone to bed.”
Which response by the diabetes care and education specialist best supports sustainable medication-taking?
- A. “Missing doses can raise your glucose and increase your risk of complications. Let’s set a daily 8 PM phone alarm so you don’t forget, and I’ll check your adherence at the next visit.”
- B. “Your evenings sound unpredictable in a good and hard way. Is there something you do most nights, no matter what shift you’ve worked, that we could anchor this dose to?”
- C. “Since mornings are working well, let’s move you to a pill organizer with both doses pre-sorted by day, so you can just take whatever’s next whenever you think of it.”
- D. “Would it help if your parent reminded you each evening? Having someone else keep track might take the pressure off you.”
Getting to the Best Answer
If you are thinking about taking the certification exam, this practice test question will set you up for success. Test writers anticipate possible answers based on the details in the question. They will wave those “juicy answers” right under your nose. Your job is to weed through the particulars, pluck out the most important elements and choose the BEST answer.
Answer A is incorrect. 10.67% chose this answer: “Missing doses can raise your glucose and increase your risk of complications. Let’s set a daily 8 PM phone alarm so you don’t forget, and I’ll check your adherence at the next visit.”
This response is clinically accurate about the risks of missed doses, but it jumps to a fixed, externally chosen solution, a specific alarm time, without first understanding why the current routine isn’t working. A rotating shift schedule makes a single fixed time an unreliable anchor from the start, and framing the follow-up as adherence “checking” rather than problem-solving together can heighten shame rather than support change.
Answer B is correct. 81.33% of you chose this answer, “What types of movement have you enjoyed in the past, and who might you enjoy doing them with?”
Great job! This is the correct answer. This response explores Jordan’s actual daily rhythm before proposing anything, and it reframes an unpredictable schedule as a legitimate constraint to design around rather than a compliance problem. It supports the three psychological needs described in Self-Determination Theory.
Answer C is incorrect. 5.33% of respondents chose this: “Since mornings are working well, let’s move you to a pill organizer with both doses pre-sorted by day, so you can just take whatever’s next whenever you think of it.”
A pre-sorted pill organizer is a reasonable adherence tool in general, but this response solves the packaging problem while leaving the timing problem—the actual barrier Jordan described —unaddressed. “Whenever you think of it” doesn’t give Jordan a reliable cue any more than the current routine does. As with option A, a plausible-sounding tool is offered before the clinician has understood what’s actually failing.
Finally, Answer D is incorrect. 2.67% chose this answer: “Would it help if your parent reminded you each evening? Having someone else keep track might take the pressure off you.”
Involving a family member can be appropriate, but only when the person wants that kind of support. Jordan didn’t raise their parent as a source of help; they described their parent as someone they care for, which may make an added caregiving-adjacent responsibility unwelcome or even reverse the relatedness this response is trying to invoke. SDT’s relatedness means Jordan feels understood and supported on their own terms, not that responsibility is redistributed without checking first.
We hope you appreciate this week’s rationale! Thank you so much for taking the time to answer our Test You Knowledge Tuesday and participate in this fun learning activity!
Want to Learn More about this Question?
Enroll in Evgeniya Evans webinar
From Compliance to Connection: Positive Psychology Strategies for Lasting Change in Diabetes Care Webinar
People living with diabetes are often well informed about actions needed to shift into a “healthy lifestyle”, yet often struggle to sustain health behaviors over time. This webinar introduces a positive psychology lens for diabetes care, showing how clinicians can help individuals with diabetes build lifestyles that feel psychologically nourishing, not just medically correct. Rather than focusing solely on risk and problem-solving, we’ll explore how to weave well-being, motivation, and strengths into everyday diabetes education and support.
Drawing on the PERMA framework—Positive Emotion, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning, and Accomplishment—participants will learn practical strategies to enhance motivation, resilience, and self-management. We’ll examine how PERMA aligns with key behavior-change principles such as autonomy, connection, and confidence-building, and translate these ideas into simple questions, reframes, and counseling approaches that can be used immediately in healthcare professionals’ practice.
