A personal approach to self-managing diabetes

Alex Silverstein

Delivering Improvement forPeople Living with and BeyondCancer

Content of talk

1. Why is it important for me to self care.

2. When did I begin contributing to my health.

3. What do I need to be able to self-care effectively?

4. What can be done to improve self-care in London.

In the 2006 3rd edition of the IDF’s Diabetes Atlas theanticipated number of pwd by 2025 was 380 million. In 2013 wereached 382m

In 2011, 30% of the population with long term conditionsaccounts for 70% of NHS spending.

For every £100 spent on encouraging self-care, around £150worth of benefits can be delivered in return.

Reducing people’s dependence on health professionals andincreasing their sense of control and wellbeing is a more intelligentand effective way of working.(2011 http://www.health.org.uk/media_manager/public/75/publications_pdfs/Helping%20people%20help%20themselves.pdf)

Why is self-care important

When/how did I begin contributing tomy health?

10,000 hours of practice is required to achieve the level of mastery associated with beinga world-class expert – Malcolm Gladwell

Equipment e.g Patient record access

What do I need to be able to self-careeffectively?

Education

Empathy to allow acceptance

Empathy - (through acceptance)Family,Friends,Schools/place of work andHealthcare team –

“It is no longer the case that you go to yourDr and your Dr will fix you” Dr Amir

Hannan.

Equipment Education Empathy (acceptance) - the four key support structures:

Family, Friends, Schools/place of work and Healthcare team

Engagement (active)

This helps enable Confidence in managing my diabetes(please realise as a HCP it is NOT your responsibility toprovide all of these).

What do I need as a person withdiabetes?

What is the need for Social Media?

Of the 8,760 hours people spend managing their diabetes lessthan 5 hours might be spent in contact with their healthcareteam…

…so those five hours are valuable and really need to count!

The diabetes online community (#doc) established itself fromthe need of individuals to reach out and connect with otherswith the same condition, to remove the isolation often felt, tofind others who face the same or similar challenges, and tosupport and learn from each other; identifying good care andbest practice along the way (3).

Social Media and Diabetes

Social media may create opportunities for people with long-term conditions tomanage their own care but health professionals must be aware of those opportunities.

Over 77% of 16-24 yr olds in the UK own a smartphone. (1) Over 1bn downloads of iphone apps in 9 months worldwide.

Carbs and Cals:

Social Media Examples: Apps

Over 77% of 16-24 yr olds in the UK own a smartphone Over 1bn downloads of iphone apps in 9 months worldwide.

MySugr:

Social Media Examples: Apps

Connect with other organisations (3rd Sector charities UK,etc).

Ask a patient/carer to setup a facebook group

Social Media Examples: Facebook

Social Media Examples: Twitter

http://www.our-diabetes.org.ukJoin the tweetchat every Tuesday at 8pm

Join the tweetchat everyWednesday at 9pm

Accept that this process will take time, in buildingtomorrows leaders.

Both HCPs and patients need to be leaders andtrained as leaders.

Aggregating skills. Pooling of resources, appreciatingof what each other is doing.

What can be done to improve self-care in London

Key Recommendations

Think about the Four Es, is there space for somethingdifferent within the care you deliver.

Social media is not for everyone and it is not a panacea. It ismerely a communication tool to support you engage withthe people you see. Be careful before jumping in.

Check out one of the tweet chats.

alexsdiabetes@gmail.com

@AlexYLDiabetes