A couple of weeks ago the 15th International Conference on Advanced Technologies & Treatments for Diabetes was being held in Barcelona. For those who like a good acronym this is more commonly known as ATTD, for the hashtag lovers this was #ATTD2022. To coincide with this Abbott held its annual Diabetes Exchange (or dX) event in the same city, at the same time. This is an opportunity for diabetes bloggers and social media people from 9 countries across Europe to come together and discuss the important things going on in their countries and also share things that are important to them. A little strangely though we got nowhere near the conference. Although I did take some time outside of the Abbott event to meet some people who had been there which was very interesting.
Here comes the legal bit and the part the cynics amongst you will be interested in ….
Abbott paid for my Ryanair flights, transfers, hotel accommodation and most of the food and drink while I was attending the timetabled elements of the trip.
They do that to get my views and input but put absolutely no pressure on me about what to share or what angle to take. Whilst I feel fortunate to be able to go along I also understand that it’s proper of me to always be honest to them, and you, about feedback during any product or marketing discussions. Having said that there is generally very little product discussion. This year especially discussion was limited as we were located in Spain that has very strict rules on promotion of medical products to people who are not medically qualified. Apparently having Type 1 Diabetes for 43 years means I’m merely an amateur. Hey ho.
In regards to payment for our time this took the form of 100 trees being planted on the group's behalf in Portugal through https://www.reforestaction.com/en/reforestation-europe.
The official theme of the two days was ‘Make it Count’, looking specifically at digital trends, emotional well-being, stigma and access to care. There were roughly seven different segments with the common theme of the above running through them. Obviously in there were some elements that really connected with my thinking and others that passed over my head a little. And I think that’s great too as the other 30ish people in the room would like those bits.
I’m going to share with you my take-aways that got my mind whirring. Top of the list was Wendy Smith. After a motorbike accident at the age of 17 she suffered severe spinal injuries that have affected the rest of her life. Helped by the mindset of her parents she saw the experience as an opportunity rather than a hinderance and subsequently became a paralympian, coach, psychologist and NLP trainer. An inspirational woman.
What really struck home to me was her discussion on stigma and how we all hold pre-conceptions. If we are aware of them and acknowledge them internally we can become much better people when dealing with others.
An example was a reply she received from a Doctor when asked about if something would be possible
"We don't know, because you're unique."
It's a simple phrase but reframes any type of preconception about what will most likely happen if a certain treatment is given. We often talk in language of certainties even though we know multiple factors can impact on the result.
And while we come with bias and beliefs based on our upbringings and experience, so do the healthcare professionals we engage with when talking about care for us or our children. Acknowledging, or even accepting these biases exist, might change how we feel in those discussions and also help us to adjust how we need to challenge more effectively if needed.
There were interesting discussions that followed about how the language of diabetes has changed over the years but also how it still needs to change more. Even in a room of people that would like to classify ourselves as open-minded and accommodating, we, including me, still hold preconceptions that time will hopefully change. I could write for a long time on this as my mind has gone down a few rabbit holes since so it will be something I’ll come back to in another post very soon.
Dinner on Friday evening was a wonderfully fishy tapas selection. It was also a good chance to learn from others about many things that affect their life with diabetes including cycling from the Netherlands to China and how to try to make a living as a photographer in Italy.
Drinks in a bar followed and as I left I was ‘promised’ by others that they would also be at the 7AM meet for a run along the harbour. Apparently the day before 11 people with diabetes had said they would be at the start line.
4. Yes, FOUR! That was the grand total of people with diabetes on the 52 seater bus. Along with us were a couple of muggles who worked for Abbott and John Burns, our guide for the session. The Guinness of a few hours earlier certainly didn’t make it an easy one but it was a good chance, again, to speak with people fighting their own diabetes (T1 and T2) battles across Europe. To add to the challenge a very quick transition from waking-up to starting to run meant I didn’t have much chance to prepare my pump basal rate. This meant I was also juggling a plummeting blood glucose for the final couple of kilometres. Thankfully the trusty Haribo kept me the right side of 3.5, although collapsing in a heap while proving that diabetes shouldn’t be a limiting thing would have be perfectly ironic.
As always, for me, the real value in these meetings comes in the non-timetabled parts where we get to chat with people who we’ve perhaps talked to online or maybe never talked to at all before. Once again it highlights that even in a medical condition that has no boundaries it’s possible to share common thoughts with people who, without diabetes coming into my life, I would never even know about.
Saturday was more thinking about the same topics. The subject of language came up again and it highlighted how there’s still so much work to be done with the professionals who we work with to manage our condition. Language Matters is becoming a global phrase that is hopefully making a difference and the more we speak about it, the more change can, hopefully, happen.
Before we said our “Adios Amigos” we had a final workshop discussion on improving access and breaking down barriers and stigmas. A big chunk of the solutions came from our shared value in peer support. Almost universally, the one thing that had helped a lot of us improve our own diabetes life was the help of people who are walking in our shoes at the same time. The value of peer support and reaching out to the those who currently feel alone in their diabetes world should never be downplayed.
Thank you again to Abbott for asking me to be part of this discussion and I hope our feedback over the two days can also help you to improve things for others with diabetes, of all kinds, across Europe and beyond.
Keep an eye for my upcoming stigma post, it might be an interesting one.
Looks like a good time had by all
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