16
NEWS
Tackling inequalities
News from Diabetes UK and Roche Diabetes Care
Roche Diabetes Care and
Diabetes UK are partnering
to tackle inequalities in
diabetes care across the
UK. The two organisations are
collaborating on a project that aims
to explore and address gaps in
access to diabetes care and provision
of services in ethnically diverse
populations across four English
regions (the North of England, the
Midlands, London and the South
West of England).
In the UK, more than 4.9m
people are living with diabetes,
with a further 13.6m at increased
risk of developing Type 2 diabetes.
Socioeconomic status and ethnicity
have been shown to be important
determinants of health inequality in
general.2This is also shown to be true
for people with diabetes (PWDs), as
demonstrated in a report exploring
inequality of care for people with
Type 2 diabetes. There is a complex
interaction of multiple factors that
influence this, which need to be
better understand of if disparities in
diabetes care are to be addressed.
The collaborative venture seeks
to better understand the reasons
behind why ethnic minority
populations with, and at risk of,
diabetes experience barriers in
accessing diagnoses, services and
treatment. Part of the project will
be to provide the communities
with the right information, support
and interventions as identified by
them, rather than provide solutions
that are based on assumptions.
It aims to explore more of the
lesser understood barriers
from the perspective of service
users themselves.
Improved self-care
By working closely with communities
in the four regions, the partnership
venture aims to meaningfully
engage with diverse communities
to understand their needs, identify
barriers in access to care, then
cocreate solutions to identified
gaps. The partnership will utilize
existing community assets and
networks to raise awareness, as well
as to increase understanding of the
condition to enable improved selfcare.
This project seeks to bring
a voice to those less heard and to
support a person-centered approach
to diabetes care.
Michael Goetzl, Managing
Director of Roche Diabetes Care UK
and Ireland, expalins,"We believe
that every person with diabetes
should receive appropriate care and
be supported to self-manage their
condition effectively. To achieve
our vision - of truly effective
personalised diabetes management
for everyone living with diabetes
- we need to take into account
diverse needs. Partnership and
collaboration are crucial in order to
fully achieve this. We are delighted
to be collaborating with Diabetes
UK on this exciting initiative that
will help to tackle inequalities in
access to diabetes care and services.
We hope that by working jointly, we
can achieve more than we would as
individual organisations for these
population groups, because of the
overlap of our ambitions."
Chris Askew, Chief Executive of
Diabetes UK, added, "Diabetes is a
very serious condition, and yet it
remains one of the fastest growing
health conditions of our time, with
diabetes diagnoses more than
doubling in the last 15 years. Sadly,
we know that many people with
diabetes experience care differently,
and are affected differently by
the condition, as a result of their
ethnicity and background. As we look
to the future, it's more important
than ever that we live in a society
that addresses these long-standing
health inequalities. This partnership
with Roche is an important step
in helping to identify the roots of
the problem and be able to address
them for future generations. There
will be lots of exciting volunteer
opportunities and key events for
people who live with, care for or
work within diabetes over the
coming months. It is only by working
together, and by placing the lived
experience of people with diabetes
at the heart of this work, that we will
make a real difference."