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Fostering Connections in Type 1 Diabetes Healthcare: UCC School of Public Health Knowledge Exchange DAFNE Event
On October 25th, 2024, the School of Public Health, University College Cork, hosted a diabetes healthcare knowledge exchange event, aimed at fostering connections and co-operation among diabetes healthcare professionals.
The event, entitled “Building on experience: practice and progress in DAFNE diabetes education” was held in the Radisson Blu Hotel, Athlone. The focus of the day was knowledge exchange (or knowledge sharing) between researchers and users of research.
The event consisted of keynote talks, as well as panel discussions, all centred around DAFNE (Dose Adjustment for Normal Eating) . [DAFNE is a course delivered by trained healthcare professionals for people with type 1 diabetes- its aim is to empower them to make informed choices about their carbohydrate intake, and insulin doses]. It was attended by practitioners delivering or intending to deliver DAFNE (nurses, dieticians and doctors), as well as research partners and members of the diabetes community.
The first keynote address, entitled “Being human in the age of digital diabetes care” was delivered by Dr Rose Stewart, Consultant Clinical Psychologist, Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board, Wales, & Adult Diabetes Psychology lead for BCUHB & NHS Wales. The talk included her perspective on diabetes management as a clinical psychologist, and advice on integrating new technology into care.
Two panel talks were held later in the day; one with a group of DAFNE graduates (people with diabetes who attended DAFNE) and one with a group of DAFNE educators. The aim of the former was to learn about the service user perspective of DAFNE. For the latter, educators from a mix of new and established DAFNE centres shared their experience of organising and running DAFNE.
"Through DAFNE teams control of Type 1 Diabetes has triumphed" - Margaret Caulfield, DAFNE Graduate Panelist
The day also provided an opportunity for researchers from UCC’s School of Public Health to share their findings related to their research on DAFNE. Dr Sheena McHugh of the Health Implementation Research Hub, School of Public Health, UCC, presented her team’s research looking at the implementation of DAFNE in Ireland. Dr McHugh outlined their work with different diabetes centres around Ireland to develop tailored strategies to support DAFNE implementation at their hospital- in other words, selecting strategies to support DAFNE implementation to address specific enablers and barriers.
The day concluded with a keynote talk by Dr Jackie Elliott, Chair of the DAFNE UK Executive Board, entitled “Developments in DAFNE Education”. In her address, Dr Elliott discussed statistics and updates from central DAFNE management including results from patient-reported outcome measures collected in England.
The event was seen by participants as a helpful networking opportunity and a positive space to learn from one another. The day also helped the healthcare professionals to understand the impact DAFNE has had on people with diabetes:
“The support that DAFNE provides through education is invaluable for people with diabetes. Therefore, as a graduate, to be able to participate in the event and to be able to share your experience was very satisfying and enjoyable.” - Gosia Carroll, DAFNE Graduate Panellist
“I think the stories we heard show the powerful impact DAFNE, coupled with CGM [continuous glucose management], has had on the lives of people with diabetes" - John O’Farrell, DAFNE Graduate Panellist
Health professionals involved in type 1 diabetes management and those involves in national service development found the event useful to share challenges and solutions among teams around the country across :
“We’ve had a 250% increase in DAFNE availability in Ireland since 2016 with 22 sites now offering the programme to people living with Type 1 diabetes. This event was such an important opportunity for the clinical teams to meet, and reflect on how we can best support ongoing implementation and delivery. I’m looking forward to continue working on this with DAFNE, the clinical teams, advocates and our academic partners in Ireland in the years to come” - Cathy Breen, Interim Dietetic Lead – National Clinical Programme for Diabetes
“Building on experience : practice and progress in DAFNE diabetes education” was organized by the Health Implementation Research Hub, School of Public Health, UCC, in collaboration with the National Clinical Programme for Diabetes, and was funded by the Health Research Board Knowledge Translation Award (KTA-2022-018).