Connection Beyond the Clinic: Addressing Isolation in Type 1 Diabetes Through Digital Innovation

Description

This talk delivered to the Health Minister and Department of Health Northern Ireland at the World Diabetes Day 2025 launch of the Digibete app, explored the lived experience of managing Type 1 Diabetes and advocated for digital tools to address critical gaps in care provision. Speaking as both a person with Type 1 Diabetes and a parent caring for a child with the condition, I explained what may be one of the fundamental challenges facing people with diabetes. Whilst the condition requires 24/7/365 self-management, patients spend less than 0.1% of their time annually with care teams. This disconnect creates isolation, particularly when navigating complex diabetes technologies (continuous glucose monitors, insulin pumps, hybrid closed-loop systems) that, whilst life-extending, introduce new layers of complexity and busyness. Managing my own Type 1 feels like living with something on land with me, a challenge, but right there. Our son's Type 1, however, is like it's offshore, just out of reach, out at sea sometimes, where we still have to make sure he's safe.

A poem by Mollie, a 16-year-old with diabetes published on Digibete socials, was shared to articulate the loneliness inherent in the condition: "explaining what it feels like to shake from the inside out while smiling at the dinner table", and the wish for someone to understand "how heavy it really is." Recent Stanford research was referenced, suggesting that the antidote to loneliness might be recognising how much others care. The Digibete app was positioned as providing essential connection to trusted information when needed, extending care team presence beyond clinic walls, and resources shareable with families and schools in accessible language. The talk concluded with a call to action for similar digital resources for adults with Type 1 Diabetes, highlighting a service gap in provision. This advocacy work connects directly to my PhD research on precision diabetes prevention and digital health interventions. The emphasis on peer support, accessible technology, and community resources echoes themes from my work on grassroots diabetes support networks and the importance of person-centred outcomes that reflect what genuinely matters to people living with conditions. This ministerial engagement is an example of translation of lived experience and research evidence into policy advocacy.

Period	14 Nov 2025