Professor calls for tailored care in older people with diabetes

Technology should be harnessed to ensure older people with diabetes receive personalised care, a leading professor has said.
Professor Elbert S. Huang, Director of the Center for Chronic Disease Research and Policy at the University of Chicago, was speaking at a recent King’s College London seminar, which explored ways to improve the care of older people with diabetes.
He said that the reasons why older people with diabetes currently only receive generalised care include lack of time, inadequate support and problems with health systems.
“We still don’t appear to personalise diabetes care but advances in computing and electronic medical records may allow us to deliver personalised recommendations more easily through predictio, pharmacogenomics and preferences,” he said.
Prof Huang added that ways to rectify this issue include updating guidelines and raising performance measurements. Additionally he suggested that people with diabetes should provide more information about their diabetes ahead of consolations with their healthcare professional.
Real-world data from clinical practice can supplement research from randomised clinical trials, and this approach, Prof Huang said, can help provide insights into subgroups of patients and help researchers understand the progression of diabetes in older age.
In the last ten years Prof Huang has led a large body of research into the personalised care of older people with diabetes, including how to aid decision-making regarding their care.
His talk ‘What can we Learn from Big Data in the Study of Older People with Diabetes?’ was delivered at the Diabetes Seminar event that took place at King’s College London on Monday, March 19. The event was organised by professors Alan Sinclair, Director of Diabetes Frail, and Angus Forbes, Chair of Clinical Diabetes Nursing at King’s College.