Digital Diabetes - Innovations in peer to peer support
How establishing a digital platform was the remedy for peer to peer support.
The pandemic brought the world to a dramatic halt ... millions left wondering 'what happens now' ... accessing medication, pharmacists and clinicians ... vital components in diabetes management.
Managing a chronic disease depends on three basic principles:
- self-management
- peer to peer support (P2P)
- access to trained healthcare professionals
Whilst we became accustomed to digital diabetes, peer to peer support had collapsed.
Now caught in the vacuum of isolation, groups could no longer meet with people. Peer to peer means 'you don't have to do it on your own'.
People quickly learned new technologies, like Zoom and WhatsApp, to keep in touch with family and friends. Partners in Diabetes (a team of volunteers affiliated with the NHS through the North West London Diabetes Transformation Programme Team) concluded that establishing a digital platform was the P2P remedy.
To the public, clinician presentations can be cold and unengaging. What people needed was interaction, friendliness and warmth.
Partners in Diabetes designed Homeshow, an online chat show where clinical guests and those with lived experiences were invited to bring essential topics to life in a fresh and welcoming way. Topics included:
- Diabetes Community Clubs
- Dietary tips
- Health inequalities
- Living with a heart condition
- Nine care processes
This video explains the concept:
Drawing an audience from the Know Diabetes website, Homeshow successfully brought like-minded people together in the comfort of their own homes.
Guests were interviewed, bringing their specialised topic to life. Generally unscripted, this made for intriguing conversations
With the world now emerging from the pandemic, Homeshow has migrated to Facebook Livestreams. The online community has grown to 400 in the 'Friends of Know Diabetes' Facebook group, with a further 4,000 on Instagram.
Homeshow has created something unique which has stood the test of time.
Change has become constant, managing it an expanding discipline, the way we embrace it defines our future.
Our overriding desire is to help people ‘live their diabetes more confidently’.
Join us over on the Friends of Diabetes social media channels.
