DRWF Events: “Disadvantages in healthcare among different communities is something that we need to be tackling”
Following the recent United Through Diabetes educational event we are sharing a series of interviews from the day with leading healthcare professionals and people working in diabetes.
We hope everyone who attended the recent United Through Diabetes event had a great day with us and went home with the tools, knowledge, practical skills, and confidence to enhance your diabetes self-management and overall health and wellbeing.
The event Digital Hub provides an opportunity to recap on content from the day, plus access even more content to help you manage your diabetes – for both attendees and those who were not able to attend but would like to find out more.
DRWF interviews from United Through Diabetes: A round-table interview of people from diverse communities following the panel session ‘Tackling Diabetes Inequity in Black Populations - Lived Experience Perspectives’.
The panel included:
Dr Bernadette Adeyileka-Tracz - Executive Director of Diabetes Africa
Barbara Hudson - The Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham, Clinical Nurse Specialist in Diabetes
Amelia Glasgow - Living with type 1 diabetes
Daniel Newman - Award-winning diabetes advocate. Host of The Talking Type 1 Podcast.
Tilieka Hendricks - Diabetes Africa, living with diabetes for four years, without confirmed diagnosis
Living With Diabetes: Why was the diverse communities session so important?
Barbara: “Working in diabetes we are finding that there as a disparity with the uptake in insulin pump therapy, continuous glucose monitoring. We know that these new technologies can improve outcomes and quality of life in all groups with diabetes. But it appears that there has been a disadvantage within black and ethnic populations, and this is something that we need to be tackling. I am working in that area and feel that I can make a difference.”
Bernadette: “It is important because there is a lack of awareness that black populations in the UK actually have inequity of outcomes and access. The primary objective for me was to highlight some examples of that. We gave some examples in diabetes technology, being well prepared for pregnancy and also in renal replacement therapy, like people with chronic kidney disease who are living with diabetes. In each of those examples, we showed that black populations in the UK were worse off.”
Living With Diabetes: What are some of the stereotypes you have encountered?
Daniel: With the podcast, we talk about people living with diabetes, type 1 and all types of diabetes. General experience, it is not specifically addressing stereotypes, my lived experience. It has brought up a lot of other experiences that I think is shared amongst people living with diabetes. For me, when it comes to the stereotypes, and it is something that we all spoke about, is effectively we are never too far away from them. They are almost the elephant in the room, I say something a certain way, am I going to be considered that way? Is something then going to be weaponised or used against me? I think that is very worrying, because you need the help and support to manage your long-term condition, your diabetes. But if you say something, or you react a certain way, then perhaps that help could not be given, or you might not have access to something. That is a worry, and then it can put people off from wanting to go back to appointments and get to getting the help that they need.”
Living With Diabetes: How do you advocate for good diabetes care? And getting that community group to go and have their appointments and take it seriously?
Tilieka: “I believe some of the things we spoke about is speaking up for yourself. For me personally, when I was first diagnosed, I didn't really speak up for myself. I just did everything I was told. The only reason I'm here today is because of these lovely ladies who have involved us in a peer support group. If I wasn’t encouraged to join that, I wouldn’t be thinking about advocating for myself or for others with diabetes. Get into the communities and just show others that it is actually okay.
“The element of trust with healthcare professionals, if you have that trust, we are more likely to do what it is you are telling us to do, as we trust you. If we believe that what you are telling us is for our good, we are going to go along with it. It is about building those relationships. Patient to healthcare professional. Then more and more people will be more willing to join in, to speak out, to join studies and trials, to get all of the data and results that are needed.”
Living With Diabetes: How do you adapt diet as a specialist?
Barbara: “As a healthcare professional it is important that we look at that person as an individual. We build a relationship with them and find out what it is they want from the consultations. We as healthcare professionals learn a lot from the people that we help care for. It is learning to listen and tailor the advice and the education that you give to the individual people. It is important for the healthcare professional to understand, and tailor make their dialogue for that individual and to listen to them. That is really, really important.”
Amelia: “When I was first diagnosed, I was given a book with food in it and what the carb count would be if I was to have it. Flicking through the book, there was nothing that I would eat on a day-to-day basis. It was a lot of pasta. Growing up I considered what I eat was healthy. I eat vegetables, I had salads, fruits, but they don't really look into actually what you eat culturally. Is it different or is it what they consider as being healthy, which I always thought it was healthy?
“I'd say it is important. When I was first diagnosed, dietary recommendations were not available. I always felt like I was the only one that has diabetes. If someone else had the condition, I got really excited as I was not the only one that has it. Perhaps they know exactly what I am going through and how I feel about it. It is nice to know you are not alone and there are others out there that have experienced what you have experienced, so you do not feel like you are going crazy.”
Thank you for listening to this Living With Diabetes special podcast report from United Through Diabetes 2024, presented by Claire Levy and brought to you by DRWF.
Visit the DRWF United Through Diabetes Digital Hub for more information and resources from the day
For news on all upcoming DRWF events please visit the event page
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