There are lots of people on social media doing their bit for diabetes awareness, and this is fantastic. However, raising awareness seems to be a big buzzword these days, but what does that really mean, and how do we raise awareness of something effectively? Should I do it by sharing a random image on my Facebook feed that doesn’t tell any of my friends anything at all? Or should I use my social media to share information?
I started thinking about this as I listened to Today FM’s The Last Word presenter, Matt Cooper, share his diabetes diagnosis on air for the first time in 2020. You can listen to this interview here on SoundCloud. I was moved by the personal experience that was so generously shared.
However, this very personal and emotional experience was overlooked by so many listeners who live with diabetes. Most of the comments on social media commended the GP guest for explaining the differences between the two types of diabetes and ensuring that there was a distinct separation between the two. It seemed that for people with type 1 diabetes, this was the most important part of diabetes awareness, and this makes me sad. Diabetes is about so much more than types and definitely about more than just two.
I thought about what would be the most important aspect of diabetes that I would like to leave people with, and my answer is that it depends on who I am talking to and why. I would love to hear your thoughts on what yours would be; do share them in the comments section.
What Is Awareness?
The definition from the Collins English Dictionary of “Awareness” is having knowledge. Diabetes awareness informs people about it. Marie Ennis-O'Connor, the creator of the "Beyond Breast Cancer" blog and patient advocate, once wrote, "informing the public can effect change, raising awareness is often the first activity an advocacy group engages in". Awareness is important in improving health services and in funding research.
“informing the public can effect change, raising awareness is often the first activity an advocacy group engages in”, Marie Ennis-O'Connor
Diabetes is a very complicated condition, and there is so much to be “aware” of; where do you start, and how do you prevent people’s eyes from glazing over within 10 seconds? I create a guide for myself to be more specific in my awareness messaging, which I'm sharing with you today. The first step in my process is figuring out who I am talking to.
"Audience" by kohlmann.sascha is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.
Audience: Who am I talking to?
There are different types of "audiences” for diabetes awareness, and my message needs to change depending on who I am talking to. For example, if I’m talking to a local politician, it’s usually to highlight a service's need and ask for funding to improve that service. In this situation, I don’t have a lot of time with my audience, so I focus on why this need is needed.
The types of audiences I tend to talk about diabetes with fall into one of these four categories:
My family and friends,
The general public (i.e. The Masses),
People who make decisions around our health service and
People living with diabetes.
Audience specific Awareness
What does my audience need to know about diabetes? In most cases, but not all, every conversation needs to be open with an explanation of what diabetes is and a very brief overview of how diabetes is managed by people living with it.
Each audience category has a different diabetes awareness message. To determine what that message is and to finetune it, I ask myself, what does the person I’m talking to need to know about diabetes and why?
What does the person I’m talking to need to know about diabetes and why?
With this in mind, I’ve created this explanation of what message I share with each audience category.
Diabetes Awareness for Friends and Family
My family and friends are the people who care the most about me and about supporting me, so it helps them worry less if I let them know how they can do this. This kind of awareness is very personal; it can involve when I need help and taking care of me if I am incapacitated. It’s also a guide for what to do and say around me that won’t end up in someone crying. This can be very tricky and even very dangerous. My husband has learned that if he asks me how I am and I say “Fine”, that it’s code for “I am not fine at all!!! And God knows what minefield you might enter?”
For me, this is a huge area of awareness. It involves teaching people not to be members of the diabetes “police” and not asking if I can eat that. To make sure you know how to administer a glucagon injection if I lose consciousness. I think you all have had experience with the “diabetes police”, and I would love to hear about some of yours in the comments.
Diabetes Awareness for the General Public
The most important piece of diabetes awareness that the general public needs to know are the signs and symptoms of diabetes because:
A lot of people with type 2 diabetes haven’t been diagnosed yet, which means high glucose levels are doing their worst.
People with type 1 diabetes need to be diagnosed quickly because they can end up in a critical condition in the hospital, and a delayed diagnosis can also be fatal.
Anyone is at risk of developing diabetes!
Since starting my journey in diabetes awareness, I have learned that a lot of people do not know that diabetes can happen to anyone!!! People with diabetes are diagnosed at any age and any lifestyle. It’s a completely random condition, especially Type 1 Diabetes! There are risk factors associated with type 2 diabetes, but many people don’t know that family history and other health conditions are some of those factors.
Everyone should know a couple of key pieces of information about diabetes; it may reduce your risk of diabetes complications and maybe even save a life. The full list of symptoms of diabetes can be found here from Diabetes UK.
The most important information about diabetes for the general public is:
The symptoms of diabetes for early diagnosis
All the Risk Factors related to type 2 and other types of diabetes
Diabetes can happen to anyone at any age
A basic idea of what diabetes is and why it’s a serious health problem
Diabetes Awareness for Public Representatives
Usually, the need to talk to public representatives, such as TDs or County Councillors, arises from needing to ask for additional health services. The Irish health service needs so much investment that we have to get in line with everyone else who is asking for services.
These conversations with people who make decisions about funding our health care and the people who implement its delivery usually focus on the evidence that an improved health service for people with diabetes can improve and save lives. These conversations can happen in a formal setting such as Leinster House, where the Irish government sits, or they can happen in the constituency offices of our public representatives.
"Leinster House" by Sean MacEntee is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
Diabetes Awareness for People with diabetes
Last but not least, this is the most straightforward diabetes awareness message because people with diabetes don’t need awareness – we live it. However, when I’m talking to people with diabetes, I usually share places where they can find other people with diabetes and where they can find additional resources that may not have been mentioned to them during their clinic appointments. This condition requires us to know so much about diabetes and living with it, from rules about driving to how to apply for the long-term illness scheme. It is impossible for our diabetes health professional teams to make sure they have told us absolutely everything or to update us when things change when they only see us twice a year.
When I was first diagnosed with type 1 diabetes thirty years ago, I did not know anything about it. Not a thing! And I thought, “why would I have needed to know?” Well, now I do know why people need to know about diabetes and why. A little knowledge is a powerful thing.