Low-income minorities
Access to diabetes care is not only a challenge in developing countries, but can also present hurdles in the developed world. Some groups of people, due to ethnic background and genetic predisposition, experience a higher incidence of diabetes; others may also experience inequities in access to care due to income status or lack of integration into established society.
The Novo Nordisk Low-Income Minorities Programme (LIM) works to address these gaps in diabetes care. The aim is to identify specific obstacles for access to diabetes care and solutions for overcoming these obstacles in targeted subgroups of a given population. The subgroup can be of ethnic origin, belong to a different religion or culture, a certain age group, or a low-income group.
Bridging the care gap
Novo Nordisk’s initiatives to better serve the diabetes care needs of low-income minority populations emphasise dialogue and collaboration. For example, two dialogue sessions aimed at identifying barriers to care were held in Edinburgh in 2006, one with government social service employees and local NGOs, and the other with primary care teams.
In Los Angeles, California, US and in Cape Town, South Africa, workshops in 2006 examined ways to address the diabetes care gap for low-income minorities. The workshop in Los Angeles was in collaboration with the University of California at Irvine and focused on access to care for Hispanics and Mexicans. The workshop was attended by about 25 people with special knowledge of treatment of diabetes in Hispanics and Mexicans. The Cape Town workshop was held in conjunction with International Diabetes Federation (IDF) congress.
Report: Dealing with Difference
Such collaborations yield examples of best practice. Case studies from North America and Europe over the past two years are presented in a Report: Dealing with difference. Order hard copies here. The report, produced by Novo Nordisk, was launched at the IDF Congress in Cape Town.
Priorities set by experts
Change requires clarity of priorities, and this was the goal for an expert symposium in March 2007, hosted by the Lund University Centre for Health Economics. Participants from many corners of the world, all with a shared interest and knowledge of diabetes, immigrants and their access to healthcare shared, discussed and agreed on a set of five priorities for improving access to diabetes care for low-income minorities.
Plans are also ongoing to address the findings from LIM in selected countries starting in 2007. The emphasis will be to work with the primary care sector to achieve better care for low-income minorities.
