I'm a lucky ticket holder for virtual access to the EASD2022 in Stockholm this week, thanks to the #dedoc voices programme.
Where on earth do I start with a conference this big?
It's my first time attending a conference like this and to begin with it felt quite overwhelming. Where do I start with literally hundreds of talks and presentations taking place this week?
Handily, there is a filter on the conference website so you can highlight what you're interested in and it shows the talks taking place all week that match your interests. You can add these to your favourites and it creates a personalised programme for your #EASD2022 week.
This is what I've got in store to tune into and I'm super excited...
Tuesday:
Opening Ceremony and Presidential Address
Dedoc symposium: What we wish you knew and why. Details of how you can tune into this can be found here
Wednesday:
Sessions on diabetes technology, continuous glucose monitoring, giving birth with diabetes, and diabetes and climate change.
Thursday:
Sessions on once weekly insulin, prevention of microvascular complications, the dark side of diabetes and a debate about CGM for all - yes or no?
Friday:
A session on how much can people with T1D benefit from adjunct therapies.
What will you hear from me?
I've got so much out of following the #dedoc voices at past conferences but it sometimes feels like an onslaught of bits and bobs from the conference. I am going to take a different approach. I'm not going to be a live tweeting, slide show sharing, always-on reporter.
I promised in my application for #dedoc that I would do a daily roundup of what I've seen and send it out in different formats to hopefully reach as many people as I can.
Today's session - Improving HCP/PWD interactions
Quite a few people attended or tuned in to the "IDF Europe Symposium: Improving the HCP-PwD interaction for better health outcomes, quality of life and resilient health systems" this afternoon. It was a lively and open panel discussion including PWD representation, focusing mainly on issues relating to treating Type 2 Diabetes patients.
The conclusions slide from the first part of the presentation was shared widely on Twitter, reporting on the feedback from T2D survey participants.
Later, the discussion moved onto the need for continuing education for the HCP AND the PWD. If the person with diabetes knows what to expect from their HCP (for example, routine tests), they can proactively ask for these rather than just wait for the HCP (who may not offer them).
There was also a discussion about the importance of language - not using jargon or medicalised terms, and not putting people off by talking about education in an unappealing way (too scary or too patronising). It's a really hard balance, everyone is different. The conversation also moved into talking about risks, outcomes, complications, life expectancy. The Twitter reaction was mixed on this - again, we're all different about how we want to talk about the scary stuff and when.
The final panel discussion was about decentralising clinical trials from "fancy hospitals" and became a wider discussion (with questions invited from the floor) about PWD's perspectives and experiences on participating in trials and medical research.
The feedback from PWD was generally that their experiences could have been improved by better feedback - including them in the outcomes about the research would have been a good start.
This was a good reminder that PWD's time and expertise is valuable, called for often, and sadly often taken for granted.
More to come from the conference every day this week.
Follow along on social media:
Twitter: @dedocORG
Twitter: @EASDnews
Twitter: @MichelleLawT1D
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