How do you make a life changing diagnosis feel less lonely?

Many of us know someone who’s affected by diabetes and is managing this chronic disease day in, day out. There are more than 3.2 million people living with type 2 diabetes in England and a further 750,000 people are believed to be undiagnosed.

Research using NHS data including the National Diabetes Audit, has shown us that 4 in 10 people with the condition report struggling with their psychological wellbeing since their diagnosis. Further research, inspired by this data, demonstrated that information to support self-management for diabetes patients improves both their physical health, and mental wellbeing. And now, this data is being used to roll-out this support nationally.

NIHR Clinical Research Network conducted research into the Healthy Living service, which is designed to provide educational and self-help content on diabetes, and also sends reminders to manage medicines and blood pressure controls.

A research group of 374 people found that the patients using the service had better control over their blood sugar levels after 12 months. Improvements were also seen in mental wellbeing.

As a result of these findings, the Healthy Living service was piloted in a number of NHS sites and now has successfully been rolled out nationally.

Professor Partha Kar, an endocrinologist and the National Specialist Advisor for Diabetes at NHS England explains, “Managing a chronic disease like diabetes is hard and many patients need support from peers, as well as healthcare professionals, to successfully self-manage their condition.

“A patient spends around 0.02% of their year in direct contact with the NHS for their diabetes management, if we assume four visits of 30 minutes each, leaving 99.98% of their time having to deal with the challenges of the disease. Self-management can be tiring and tough on mental health, and this project has shown the benefit of information and help from others with the condition.”

Thanks to research and data, diabetes patients will have access to more information about their care and how to manage their health for the better.

Personalised care, powered by NHS data.

Learn more about the Healthy Living service.