Resources

Diabetes UK have a wide range of resources and services to support people living with diabetes and  healthcare professionals: 

• Local Support Groups provide an opportunity for people with diabetes to access local diabetes peer support.
• Our Support Forum is a space where people with diabetes, their families and carers, can exchange knowledge and experiences online.
• Learning Zone, is an award-winning, interactive tool to help educate and support people with diabetes. Combining evidence-based medical advice with real patient experiences, it delivers a unique learning experience that complements structured diabetes education. Clinically approved and endorsed by experts – you can log in as a healthcare professional to see what your patients will see.   
• Our Online Shop which includes free resources for people living with diabetes and healthcare professionals.
• We have a webpage on the medicines and treatments available, aimed to give people living with diabetes the information they need.

For further information and support, your patients can get in touch with the Diabetes UK helpline: 

• Telephone: 0345 123 2399, Monday to Friday, 9am to 6pm 
• Email: helpline@diabetes.org.uk 

If you're in Scotland: 

• Telephone: 0141 212 8710, Monday to Friday, 9am to 6pm.  
• Email: helpline.scotland@diabetes.org.uk

Keep reading this page for different resources from Diabetes UK, and other organisations, that are applicable to the different topics covered in the Medicines and Treatment Collection.

Language Matters: Language and Diabetes – A guide with practical examples of language to support positive interactions with, and outcomes for, people living with diabetes. 

Language Matters: Obesity - a resource to help educate healthcare professionals around having conversations with people living with obesity.

Challenging weight stigma learning hub – From Public Health Scotland, a learning resource to help you understand weight stigma, its impact and how to have good conversations about higher weight and behaviour change.

NHS England » NHS Workforce Race Equality Standard 2023 data analysis report for NHS trusts

Tackling Inequalities Commission Report – A series of recommendations at an individual and an organisational level to acknowledge and address the challenges faced by people experiencing health inequalities.  

Core20PLUS5: A national approach from NHS England that identifies a target population and five clinical areas for accelerated improvement. 

Insulin and diabetes: Guidance and information for people with diabetes who take insulin, including insulin types, what to do if you take too much, injecting insulin and using an insulin pump. 

Our Insulin Essentials Guide is available to download, telling people living with diabetes key information about taking insulin including managing hypoglycaemia, insulin storage and what to do if they are unwell.  

Driving and diabetes: Guidance on driving with diabetes. 

Unwell with diabetes: What to do if you have diabetes and are unwell, including sick day rules. 

Hypoglycaemia: Guidance on hypoglycaemia, including treatment and prevention. 

Hyperglycaemia: Information on hyperglycaemia, including symptoms, treatments, prevention and what to do if a person has regular high blood glucose levels. 

Diabetes distress and burnout: What diabetes distress is, signs and symptoms, and what a person can do to improve their well-being. 

Weight loss planner – A resource to help you support people to lose weight 

Weight loss surgery for type 2 diabetes.  Further information on weight loss surgery.

Movement Hub | Sport England – From Sports England, access tools and resources to help people engage with sport and physical activity, including a timeline of daily online classes to suit all levels.  

Movement for Health | We Move Together – Coalition of Scotland’s leading health charities to support people with long term conditions to become more active.

NICE guidance on shared decision making. 

Shared decision-making guide from NHS England for people local implantation. 

Should I take a statin? NICE patient decision aid. 

Making a decision about managing type 1 diabetes decision aid from NHS England.

Type 2 diabetes: agreeing my blood glucose (HbA1c) target NICE patient decision aid. 

Motivational interviewing and diabetes: Article from Diabetes Spectrum, American Diabetes Association. 

Example of putting importance and confidence rulers into practice, by Dr Amrit Sachar. 

NICE Guidelines- Type 2 diabetes in adults: Management 

NICE Guidelines - Diabetes (type 1 and type 2) in children and young people: diagnosis and management

NICE Guidelines- Hypertension in adults: diagnosis and management include guidance on choosing blood pressure medication for people with type 2 diabetes. 

NICE Guidelines- Type 1 diabetes in adults: diagnosis and management include guidance managing hypertension in people with type 1 diabetes. 

Type 2 diabetes mellitus: Quality prescribing strategy - a guide for improvement from the Health Improvement Scotland.

Medicines optimisation advice from NHS England, based on NICE Medicines Optimisation Quality Standard. 

Diabetes health checks: An overview of the health checks people with diabetes should be receiving on an annual basis. 

QRISK Calculator: a tool to estimate the 10 year risk of a heart attack or stroke, for those not already on statins or diagnosed with cardiovascular disease.

DESMOND: programmes to support self-management for people who are at risk of developing or currently diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. 

DAFNE: a five-day course for adults living with type 1 diabetes, helping them lead as normal a life as possible, whilst also maintaining blood glucose levels within healthy targets. 

NHS Healthier You Diabetes Prevention Programme: This is a free NHS Diabetes Prevention Programme which can help your patients reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes,

NHS England Language Matters: Language and diabetes - This guide provides practical examples of language that will encourage positive interactions with people living with diabetes and subsequently positive outcomes.

Making Every Contact Count – e-learning for healthcare  - an e-learning programme, designed to support you in developing an understanding of public health and the factors that impact on a person’s health and wellbeing. It focuses on the importance of questions and listening effectively and aims to increase your confidence to deliver health and wellbeing messages to help encourage people to change their behaviour. 

Behaviour Change Literacy for Individuals and Workforce Leaders – e-learning for healthcare - This e-learning programme will explore the role of behaviour change in promoting positive health behaviours and identify the skills and techniques that can be used to create an environment in which behaviour change will flourish.

RSPH | RSPH Learn | Introduction to Behaviour Change - This online course, which is free to Royal Society for Public Health members, will provide you with the information and skills you need to have conversations with people in order to help them make healthier decisions, but the principles can be applied to any conversation about any change.