Diabetes charity offers new support service

The national charity Diabetes UK has launched a new service that helps put diabetes patients in contact with others with the condition.
The charity say the new “Peer Support” service, which involves both telephone and email with phones manned by trained volunteers with a range of experiences, means that diabetics have the opportunity to chat with people who understand their condition and have gone through similar problems. It is hoped the service will be especially helpful for those who have just been diagnosed or are moving from using child to adult services.
The launch was prompted by a survey showing that 72 per cent of respondents with diabetes who required either emotional or psychological support said they had not been offered it from a healthcare professional or service.
Chief executive of Diabetes UK, Barbara Young, commented “Right from the point of diagnosis, diabetes presents a whole range of issues and challenges that all too often people feel they have to face entirely on their own.”
She added “There is already lots of practical information available on managing and living with diabetes. But sometimes there is no substitute for talking to someone who you really feel has walked a mile in your shoes and we want to give people with diabetes the chance to have those kind of conversations.”