Australasian Diabetes Congress showcases hope for the future through the voice of lived experience and latest in research and treatment

The 2023 Australasian Diabetes Congress opened in Adelaide with a warm welcome from Australian Diabetes Society (ADS) President Professor Anthony Russell, followed by a historical overview of the ADS to celebrate its 50^th anniversary. With the official opening completed the conference began in earnest with a keynote speech from Dr Mark Heyman calling for a greater focus on the emotional and mental health of people living with diabetes. Using his personal experience as a diabetes psychologist, certified diabetes educator and a person living with type 1 diabetes, Dr Heyman provided invaluable insights and urged greater training for health care providers to tackle the behavioural and emotional challenges of living with diabetes.

On the opening day, conference participants were able to attend sessions on a range of topics from the preliminary findings of the Australian Type 1 Diabetes National Screening Pilot, delivered by Dr Kirstine Bell, to a look at women’s hormonal health and how it interacts with diabetes, a deep dive into bariatric surgery, an overview of trends in type 2 diabetes, gestational diabetes and risk factors observed in type 2 diabetes, to presentations on kidney disease, cardiovascular disease and other organ complications.

On Thursday Diabetes Australia hosted a morning of discussions centred on insights and evidence for type 2 diabetes prevention and remission, including implications for policy and service delivery, and future opportunities for reform in Australia. Powerful speeches were given by Dr Peter Brukner, Dr Laureen Lawlor-Smith and Beven Bruce sharing their personal stories of diabetes remission. While Associate Professor Samantha Hocking reported on the long-anticipated results of the DiRECT-Aus study.

The Australian Centre for Behavioural Research in Diabetes spoke on diabetes stigma and the launch of its End Diabetes Stigma campaign. The ADEA ran sessions on diabetes management in aged care, and a multidisciplinary team of speakers spoke on diabetes in First Nations’ communities. Diabetes Australia’s Trent Lyon and Associate Professor Deanne Minniecon provided invaluable insights on how people living with diabetes can empower themselves to receive culturally supportive and person-centred care, and how health workers can encourage this through active listening, using visual tools and metaphors, and valuing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples cultural knowledge, medicines and spiritual wellbeing.

On the final day of the conference the ADEA convened a Symposium on Diabetes in Pregnancy which covered research into the best ways to support women with type 1 diabetes in pregnancy, and those with gestational diabetes. Diabetes Australia Board member Dr Glynis Ross opened the afternoon session of the joint ADS/ADIPS session on Diabetes in Pregnancy with a presentation on improving pregnancy outcomes in women with pregestational diabetes.

In addition to the above, much more was on display from investigations into diabetic retinopathy to an exploration of the power of language used in diabetes, to epidemiological research into early childhood type 1 diabetes, and the impact of young-onset type 2 diabetes on complications.

The conference was a powerful showcase of the incredible work being done by people living with diabetes, researchers, health professionals and advocates for the diabetes community. It was an inspiring example of the dedication to research in this space and a reminder of how much more can be done with greater funding support.

We would like to say a special thank you to Caitlin who came along to the conference as Diabetes Australia’s Peoples’ Voice representative, and congratulations to Dr Shannon Lin on winning the Jan Baldwin National CDE Award. Dr Lin spent many years working at Diabetes Australia and is currently supporting the work of Life for a Child alongside her role as a lecturer at the University of Technology in Sydney.