In Bolton, 29 people are newly diagnosed with diabetes every week. Can design help them?
Diabetes is a chronic condition, which can in most cases be managed but not completely cured. As such, the central issue both for sufferers and the health system is to find sustainable (and cost-effective) ways to manage the disease into the long term.
Despite the excellent care and support services offered by Bolton NHS, including dedicated facilities such as the Bolton Diabetes Centre, many patients within the community find it difficult to make the lifestyle changes and carry out the self-medication necessary to manage the condition effectively and avoid the onset of further, more severe complications in the future.
The Open Health project, driven by a team of designers, policy thinkers and social scientists from the Design Council, aimed to harness the principles of design-led innovation and focus on the user – in this case, the diabetes sufferer – to help transform diabetes care. This approach aimed to encourage individuals to take control of their own condition management, as well as helping to develop more effective communication channels between patients and their healthcare providers.
Who has diabetes?
- There are 1.8 million people with diabetes in the UK, equivalent to three per cent of the population
- Diabetes affects five per cent of the world’s population and its prevalence is doubling every generation
- Globally there are up to 20 million people with Type 1 diabetes
- There are up to a million people with undiagnosed Type 2 diabetes in the UK.
(Source Diabetes UK 2004)
What does it cost?
- The NHS spends around five per cent of its budget or close to £10 million a day treating diabetes and its effects.
- NHS spend on diabetes will rise to ten per cent by 2011.
(Source Diabetes UK 2004)