At risk of diabetes? You can refer yourself for extra support

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everydayupsanddowns

everydayupsanddowns

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As part of a pilot programme, people at risk of developing T2 diabetes in England can now refer themselves for additional support as part of the NHS diabetes prevention programme. (If you live in Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland you will still need contact your GP if your risk is moderate or high).

This is partly a response to the reduction in referrals to the prevention programme by GPs because of reductions in routine appointments, blood tests etc. due to the pandemic.

The fist step would be to complete Diabetes UK’s ‘Know Your Risk’ tool. If this shows that you are at “high” or “moderate” risk of developing diabetes, you should proceed to the NHS Diabetes Prevention Programme - https://www.diabetes.org.uk/prevention-programme This is a postcode search page which identifies the local Healthier You service and provides contact details – this may be telephone, email etc. You can then contact the local service and enrol in their local programme(s). Currently these sessions will be delivered remotely.

This is not intended as a replacement for GP services so you should also discuss your results with your GP, via a phone appointment if possible.

If you give this a go, let us know how it works out for you 🙂
 
This was the Healthier You prevention programme I attended a couple of years ago, at the time referred by my GP and had weekly group meetings with weigh-ins (keeping you accountable) after work, then monthly check-ins. It was very informative and useful, so would highly recommend it. The information sinks in over time!
 
What of Scotland
 
I forgot about that I’ll have a gander
 
Just learned yesterday that this self-referral pilot is being extended for a further 6 months until March 2022, so hopefully many more people at risk of diabetes will be able to get additional help and support.
 
Out of curiosity, I just went through the Know Your Risk calculator. It confirmed I was low risk of getting type 2.

I was intrigued by one of the questions:
"Do you have a parent, brother, sister and/or child with diabetes? Having a close relative with diabetes increases your risk of developing type 2 diabetes."

I was intrigued because the question does not distinguish the type of diabetes - is my brother at greater risk of developing type 2 because I have Type 1?
 
helli said:
Out of curiosity, I just went through the Know Your Risk calculator. It confirmed I was low risk of getting type 2.

I was intrigued by one of the questions:
"Do you have a parent, brother, sister and/or child with diabetes? Having a close relative with diabetes increases your risk of developing type 2 diabetes."

I was intrigued because the question does not distinguish the type of diabetes - is my brother at greater risk of developing type 2 because I have Type 1?
Click to expand...

That’s really interesting @helli, and particularly because ‘child‘ is specified in the list (which seems to suggest it’s not simply an omission of T2).

I wasn’t aware of any data that might suggest that, but I will certainly ask the question. 🙂
 
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