In spite of the strides that have been made in the treatment of diabetes, many patients do not achieve optimal outcomes and still experience devastating complications that result in a decreased length and quality of life. Patient empowerment provides a framework for the development and implementation of intervention strategies that enable patients to make decisions about goals, therapeutic options, and self-care behaviors, and to assume responsibility for daily diabetes care.  Empowerment has been shown to be effective when providing both diabetes self-management education and on-going diabetes self-management support, resulting in improved outcomes.  This presentation will describe the shift from compliance to collaboration and provide practical strategies for implementing a truly collaborative approach in a real-world setting.