Swedish health care fails diabetics

The care of the people Type 2 diabetes is not close to achieving the goals set by the National Board of Health. This is very serious and we do not see any sign of real ambition to increase in the regions and county councils of the country. The future announces worrying for half a million Swedes with type 2 diabetes and for the hundreds of thousands of others who are unknowingly suffering from it. And even more people today have a precursor, the so-called prediabetes.

Health care must begin at the height of the beautiful words about personalized and person-centered care. Today, too many people with type 2 diabetes suffer from serious complications such as serious cardiovascular disease, eye damage, kidney damage and amputations.

As a result Patient Survey The Diabetes Ball, which we carry out with the Netdoktor Patient Portal, shows among other things that for seven out of ten patients, the disease was detected by accident, for example as part of a health check in the health center or the health of the company.

Here is one great potential for improvement. Through outreach activities in primary care, we could reach more people. Simple blood glucose tests could be offered to people at risk. If more diagnoses were diagnosed, much suffering could be avoided, while health care costs would decrease as a prolonged increase in blood sugar caused serious damage to the blood vessels and nerves.

Another result, What constitutes a strong underclass for health care is that there are remarkably few patients who have their feet examined. The National Health Council guidelines state very clearly that every year, an annual survey should be offered to all. The reason for this is to detect damaged blood vessels in time, which may otherwise lead to sensory loss, hard wounds and eventually amputations. But today, development is going badly and fewer people are being checked. In our patient survey, only 58% had been thoroughly investigated in the last year.

Here must be responsible In the County Councils, you are asked to answer: Why does not everyone propose an annual foot study, which can be very important in the long term? Are there structural barriers or do primary care lack the time or resources for this simple measure that is a direct requirement in the guidelines?

A third result concern self-esteem, the care that patients themselves face. These include, for example, continuous measures of blood glucose, insulin injections, drug dose adjustments, and control of food and physical activity. For this personal care to work for the individual, courses are required. Here, the guidelines state that all people with type 2 diabetes must undergo group training to the patient. But only 18% of respondents indicated in the survey that they had been offered group training.

An evaluation like The National Council of Health and Social Welfare acted if group education showed no improvement. Many health centers felt that the support of their patients was too small to be educated. So it should not be. Why do not several health centers collaborate for group training?

Give people with Diabetes has a greater influence on its treatment, offers modern diabetics, provides medical support and accompanies lifestyle changes. Today, old-fashioned treatments are too often used and people with diabetes often end up with a few brochures in their hands with the warning that "now you start taking care of yourself. ". We can never accept this as a patient coach.

This is an opinion piece published in Today's Society. The opinions expressed in this article are the author / authors.