Diabetes is a serious disease and currently there is no cure. Around 3.7 million people in Canada over a year old live with diagnosed diabetes (9.4% of the population). This number excludes gestational diabetes. In addition, over 6% of adults in Canada live with prediabetes, which gives them a higher chance of developing type 2 diabetes. On the individual level, diabetes causes extreme human cost and suffering, both for patients and their loved ones. At a population level, this disease is not being properly addressed; this trend cannot continue.

Reducing the burdens of diabetes or eliminating the disease entirely must be a priority. We need to recognize the importance of the emotional as well as the physical aspects of this condition.

Diabetes is often a lonely disease. Patients are not seeing doctors and educators enough for a myriad of reasons, including a shortage of specialists, a lack of access, high deductible plans, and psycho-social factors that get in the way. This leads to a greater and greater demand for easily accessible information and knowledge. Surveys and interactions with diabetes educators show that they need the help, too, particularly given the number of demands on their time.

Goals

The goal is to help people with diabetes live happier, healthier, and more hopeful lives through the diaTribe weekly publication, which now reaches over 575,000 subscribers via email. All the articles from their publication are also on their website, which had nearly 6 million visitors last year. diaTribe seeks to empower their readers with useful, actionable information that gives them hope for a better future, and helps them live happier and healthier lives. Their tagline is “Making Sense of Diabetes.”

diaTribe covers a wide variety of topics related to diabetes. From type 1 to type 2, from drugs to devices, from research opportunities to regulatory decisions, the common thread through their articles is that they aim to provide value to diaTribe’s readers. That might come from learning about a new product or study, or from feeling more confident in discussions with their healthcare team, or simply gaining hope knowing that progress is being made every day.

Time in range is the percentage of time that a person spends with their blood glucose levels in a target range. The diaTribe Foundation leads the Time in Range Coalition, a multi-stakeholder group of industry executives, nonprofit leaders, diabetes researchers, healthcare providers, and people with diabetes. The goal is to drive awareness and adoption of time in range as a critical tool to improve the care of people with diabetes. People with diabetes are too often blamed for their disease and made to feel shame or embarrassment. We believe that addressing diabetes stigma is an essential missing element of effective diabetes care and mental wellness. And they aim to change that. They provide resources on diabetes stigma to help challenge and reframe the way we think, write, and speak about diabetes.

Activities

• Offer resources on diabetes to patients and medical professionals, including content on diabetes stigma and mental health.
• Support the diabetes community by building deeper relationships and help people with diabetes lead healthier, happier and hopeful lives.
• Driving awareness and adoption of time in range as a critical tool to improve the care of people with diabetes.

Myriad Canada is working with the diaTribe Foundation on this project, an American nonprofit which primary purposes are to improve the health and happiness of people with diabetes and prediabetes, and encourage and support research in diabetes prevention and early diagnosis.