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Background The purpose of this study is to document what and how diabetes specific foot health information was provided during a podiatry consultation, and what information was retained at 1 month post consultation. Methods This project was embedded within a prospective cohort study with two groups, podiatrists and people with diabetes. Data collection included the Problem Areas in Diabetes Questionnaire (PAID), Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), information covered during the consultation, method of delivery and perceived key educational message from both participant perspectives at the time of the appointment and 1 month post appointment. Results There were three podiatrists and 24 people with diabetes who provided information at the two time points. Diabetes education provided by the podiatrists was mostly verbal. The key educational message recalled by both groups differed at the time of the appointment (14 out of 24 of responses) and at 1 month post the appointment time (11 out of 24 of responses). Conclusions Education is a vital component to the treatment regime of people with diabetes. It appears current approaches are ineffective in enhancing understanding of diabetes impact on foot health. This study highlights the need for research investigating better ways to deliver key pieces of information to this population. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s13047-018-0255-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Background Health literacy is fundamental to the provision of education within the health care setting. Poor health literacy regularly affects people's health and their ability to self care. Podiatrists regularly provide education to clients who have diabetes however little is known about the best method to do so, particularly when the client has complications or poor health literacy. This study aims to quantify what educational content is provided from podiatrists to clients with diabetes during assessments and routine appointments in order to further inform retention rates of education.