Diabetes campaign aims to improve care in Highlands and across Scotland
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Diabetes Scotland aims to connect diabetics and their families through campaigns, support groups and meet-up events.
In Scotland, 335,000 people are diabetic, with around 10 per cent of these individuals being Type 1.
Last year the Scottish Government received £14.6 million funding to ensure access to “hybrid closed loop technologies”, an insulin pump which automatically provides insulin according to the body’s blood glucose level given by a sensor reading, as well as a personal calculation of dosage monitored by the diabetic.
Diabetes Scotland has launched ‘Diabetes Tech Can’t Wait’ asking for diabetics across the country to have equal access to this support, rather than face a postcode lottery depending where in the country they live.
The charity’s communication manager Jacqui Mackenzie said: “We want diabetics to feel empowered, to know and stand up for their rights.
“It is well within everyone’s rights to have access to resources that can make the pressures of living with this disease a little less.”
The campaign is also an attempt to bring the diabetic community closer together, connecting both those with the condition as well as their families, who accompany them through the highs and lows of the disease.
“Technology is imperative in today’s world,” Ms Mackenzie said. “It comes in the form of pumps and sensors for diabetics, but it also is our means of communicating with each other.”
Related article: My life with diabetes: I was lucky enough to find the strength
Diabetes support groups are ever-growing on social media, providing a space for sharing stories and experiences as well as for organising in-person meet ups and events.
Family Network Days are free events getting families together to have fun, speak with one another and share first-hand experiences of living with or alongside diabetes.
“They are a great way of getting whole families together, speaking to each other, and offering each other support,” Ms Mackenzie said.
“There’s definitely added value in diabetic groups, whether online or face-to-face.
“Having a like-minded community helps as it’s good to talk about emotions, the everyday ups and downs with people who just get it.”
And she stressed the importance of diabetes being seen as a “household disease”, something which affects the whole family.
“By diabetics understanding their rights to resources and utilising these, it makes their family’s lives a lot easier too,” she said.
“It’s all about promoting living well and self-managing the condition.
“We want to listen to and co-design with diabetics, on what their life should look like living with the disease and ultimately it’s the conversations between diabetics and their families surrounding these issues that sparks the change.”
More information on diabetes and support is available here
Closer to home support for Type 1 diabetics is also available through the Highland T1 Diabetes Family Group on Facebook.
