The purpose of this day is to raise awareness of a condition that millions of people all around the world live with every day. That condition is Diabetes!
Essentially, diabetes is about the body’s ability (or lack of it) to produce the required amount of a hormone called insulin to control glucose levels in the blood.
There are broadly two types of diabetes:
- Type 1 which requires daily administration of artificial insulin, usually by means of injection because the body fails to produce insulin on its own
- Type 2 which is generally more linked to age onset, and can be managed by a combination of dietary control and medication in the form of tablets, because the body fails to produce enough insulin on its own. Type 2 diabetics can also progress to injecting insulin on a daily basis, if there is not enough control with diet and tablets
It’s very important that people with diabetes maintain good control of their condition to help reduce and avoid long term complications, and there have been huge advances in this area over recent years helping people with the condition live as normal a life as possible.
The aim of Diabetes Awareness Day 2019 is to focus on ‘the Family and Diabetes’, but this also includes an individual’s support network around them. As care providers you may be involved in the management, care, prevention and education of diabetes, because an individual you provide a service to is diabetic.
Therefore, it is equally important that your staff are trained and have a good awareness of this condition, as they could be supporting a diabetic on a daily basis and are therefore, part of the individual’s wider family.
Diet, well-being, exercise and monitoring play a key part in supporting a diabetic to live well with the condition, so you can help them by helping your staff to be aware, know how to support and promote well-being. They will also know how to discuss the condition with an individual because they understand what diabetes is and how it affects someone that has the condition or has been diagnosed with it.
Support diabetes awareness by enrolling your staff and educating them to give quality support to those with diabetes.
Click here for more information on our Diabetes Awareness online course or contact us on 020 3397 9734.
