Type 1 technology guide released

A new family-friendly guide to type 1 diabetes technology has been launched.

Entitled ‘Type 1 Technology:  A guide for young people and families’, the guide aims to help families when they are talking to healthcare professionals about the technology on offer to them.

The guide has been jointly produced by type 1 diabetes charity JDRF, Diabetes UK and INPUT Patient Advocacy, with input from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE).

Different types of insulin pumps, flash glucose monitoring and continuous glucose monitoring are among the technology options covered.

It highlights new recommendations from NICE on treatments and technology for children and young people with type 1 diabetes. It also gives an update on some technologies that NICE has not made recommendations on.

The recommendations from NICE include aiming for tighter blood glucose control to improve the management of type 1 diabetes amongst children and young people. The recommendations should also improve access to continuous glucose monitors (CGM) and insulin pumps.

A National Diabetes Audit from 2013-14 found that 26,500 children and young people live with type 1 diabetes in the UK, with the number of people in total living with types 1 and 2 diabetes all together standing at more than three million.

Sarah Johnson, Director of Policy and Communications at type 1 diabetes charity JDRF, said: “We know from our supporters that it can be confusing at times when seeing what technology is out there for people who live with type 1 diabetes, especially for children and young people. This new family-friendly guide will make life easier for young people who live with type 1 diabetes or their family in assessing what options are there to help them manage their condition.”

To read Type 1 Technology, click here.