I found out that there is a local Diabetes UK group near where I live and went along to their regular monthly meeting last week. It was quite an interesting experience in various ways especially in terms of the speak they had and hearing about the activities of the group volunteers and how they are engaging with different areas of the community.
The speaker was a Wellbeing and Lifestyle Coach and presented on the work being done by him and his colleagues across the local area. The team are employed by the local Health Trust and work with multiple GP surgeries across the city. Example of the work they do were really good and highlighted that people can take control of their diabetes one step at a time for those who don't jump in with two feet. The ongoing engagement with patients is based on the what the patient wants and they sound like they can really be of value. What was a cause for concern was that many of the people at the meeting did not realise that this service was available not least because it is advertised as PCN in surgeries and of course no one knew what this meant. People newly diagnosed or even those diagnosed years ago might find the services of such coaches helpful, particularly where they are struggling to change things to get their diabetes under control.
The volunteers who organise and run the meeting are also active in the community, they are running diabetes awareness workshops in schools and other locations to help people understand the issues and identify the symptoms.
The other highlight of the meeting was that I met other diabetics and was able to flag the existence of these forums to them. A number of people had not received any real pointers from their doctors of DSNs about where to go for information outside what came from the practice. The lack of knowledge was concerning but hopefully, pointing them in this direction will hopefully help them out.
The speaker was a Wellbeing and Lifestyle Coach and presented on the work being done by him and his colleagues across the local area. The team are employed by the local Health Trust and work with multiple GP surgeries across the city. Example of the work they do were really good and highlighted that people can take control of their diabetes one step at a time for those who don't jump in with two feet. The ongoing engagement with patients is based on the what the patient wants and they sound like they can really be of value. What was a cause for concern was that many of the people at the meeting did not realise that this service was available not least because it is advertised as PCN in surgeries and of course no one knew what this meant. People newly diagnosed or even those diagnosed years ago might find the services of such coaches helpful, particularly where they are struggling to change things to get their diabetes under control.
The volunteers who organise and run the meeting are also active in the community, they are running diabetes awareness workshops in schools and other locations to help people understand the issues and identify the symptoms.
The other highlight of the meeting was that I met other diabetics and was able to flag the existence of these forums to them. A number of people had not received any real pointers from their doctors of DSNs about where to go for information outside what came from the practice. The lack of knowledge was concerning but hopefully, pointing them in this direction will hopefully help them out.
