Originally published 24 February 2003

Diabetes patients and health workers are seeking £20,000 for a project to create a crucial manual that would allow people living with type 2 diabetes to manage their condition themselves. They want to replicate the success of the national “Heart Manual” a very successful self-management programme for cardiac rehabilitation that helped patients to manage their illness and reduced hospital admissions and GP visits.

The Warwick Diabetes Care User Group (which is made up of diabetes patients) at the University of Warwick believes the new manual would provide an empowering self-management programme for individuals, would enable people to gain confidence quickly in managing their type 2 diabetes, improve knowledge, add quality to peoples’ lives and promote long-term health gains.

The manual would fit with current Department of Health targets. The DOH report “The Expert Patient: a new approach to chronic disease management for the 21st century” requires all primary care providers to have mainstream self-management programmes available for key chronic disease groups by 2007.

The Warwick Diabetes Care User Group have asked Warwick Diabetes Care at the University of Warwick to try and develop and publish such a manual. However the development and writing costs would be in the region of £20,000. Warwick Diabetes Care is now approaching a number of charitable and health funding bodies to try and meet this need.

For further information contact:
Jackie Sturt,
Warwick Diabetes Care
University of Warwick
tel: 024 765 72950
Jackie.Sturt@warwick.ac.uk