Living with diabetes? What matters to you?

South East London Integrated Care System wants to ensure that everyone living with diabetes receives the care they need.

The programme team has set up a partnership with Food for Purpose CIC and aims to work with local people living with diabetes to co-design an action plan for the identified concerns/recommendations and begin create and test solutions.

Over the past seven months, Food for Purpose CIC has been working with local people to identify concerns and solutions regarding diabetes services in south east London boroughs. Engaging with over 120 individuals from Black African, Black Caribbean, Asian, Latin American, and Portuguese communities in Bromley, Greenwich, North Bexley, and Lambeth, they have held in-person solution workshops. These sessions provided diabetes education, an overview of the care patients’ journey, and a platform for participants to discuss challenges and suggest improvements.

Key issues

• Many people find it difficult to understand the diabetes pathway in their borough. Key concerns include:
• Lack of awareness of local diabetes services
• Lack of understanding of treatments and medications
• Limited access to diabetes education
• Difficulty in scheduling annual checkups
• Communication challenges, particularly for non-English speakers
• Uncertainty about healthy food options within cultural contexts

Summary of recommendations and solutions

• Establish local knowledge hubs at community groups
• Create a diabetes management handbook with glucose monitor trials
• Develop ethnic group-specific recipes
• Implement an appointment texting service in Spanish and Portuguese
• Provide education on available resources and access
• Offer face-to-face refreshers session for diabetes education

Each group nominated health champions to continue this work and represent their communities as part of an upcoming lived experience led south east London community group for diabetes care.

Next steps:

Further solution workshops will be held in Lewisham and Southwark for the Polish, Black Caribbean and Latin American communities in November and December. Please get in touch with admin@foodforpurpose.org for details.

This approach builds on outcomes and insights that we collected in the last couple of years working with Mabadiliko CIC. During this phase we listen to local people and understand what matters to those living with diabetes and at risk of diabetes. We particularly listen to the voices of people from Black African, Black Caribbean and South Asian heritage, as type 2 diabetes is up to six times more likely in people of South Asian descent and three times more likely in Black African and Caribbean people.

You can read the report from this work here and below outcomes which mattered most to people. The participants divided them into individual and collective ‘I’ and ‘We’ statements, as follows:

• I am always able to see an appropriate healthcare professional within a reasonable timeframe.
• I am provided with a range of clearly explained treatment options and have a choice in the final decisions made.
• I feel confident to carry out the self-management activities needed to manage my Diabetes.
• I am referred to physical activity support that fits with my budget and is accessible for me.
• We are able to discuss diabetes with people that we relate to who have lived experience of Diabetes.
• We know how to challenge or share feedback about our care and feel safe to do so.
• We receive motivational support to help stick to changes in our lives.
• We receive food and cooking advice based on our cultural needs if we need it.
• We have the opportunity to discuss non-health issues that are affecting our diabetes.
• Our healthcare professionals treat us with dignity and respect.
• Our healthcare professionals take time to understand our individual experiences and needs.

Other concerned and recommendations raised:

• lack of trust of the healthcare system
• a desire for advice to be tailored for cultural and social needs,
• interest in alternative medicines and holistic approaches, alongside peer support.