Diabetes UK publishes top research priorities to prevent health inequalities

A leading diabetes charity has outlined the top research recommendations to address the urgent need to tackle health inequalities in diabetes care.

Diabetes UK conducted a two-day research workshop to bring together research experts, healthcare professionals and people living with the condition.

By working together, the workshop attendees helped to develop a position statement which identifies research priorities to address health inequalities.

In addition, the statement provides recommendations to researchers on how best to conduct studies in these areas.

The following key areas were identified as needing increased focus:

• How can we collate and evaluate local innovation projects and disseminate best practice around tackling health inequalities in diabetes?
• How can we improve research design so that the people who could benefit most are represented?
• How can we use theories from implementation science to facilitate the uptake of research findings into routine practice to reach the populations with highest need?
• How could research funders allocate funds to best address health inequalities in diabetes?
• How can we improve public involvement and engagement to make diabetes research more inclusive of and relevant to diverse communities?
• How do we ensure the research community is representative of the general population?
• How can we best collect and use data to address health inequalities in diabetes, including the harnessing of real-world and routinely collected data?

The report states: “This position statement calls on the diabetes research community to act upon these recommendations to ensure future research works to eliminate unfair and avoidable disparities in health.”

To access the findings, click here.