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Wow, what a year 2020 has been

Weve had to learn to live in ongoing pandemic crisis mode as COVID-19 remains a public health emergency across the globe.

Pretty much everything is seen through that lens, and as a result, our annual diabetes year in review also looks a bit different this time around.

Traditionally, DiabetesMine has featured a month-by-month breakdown of the biggest happenings of the year.

But 2020 isnt like any other year. Every week and month has felt extraordinarily long, and the days seemed to blend together in ways we just havent ever experienced before.

As such, weve focused our annual review on the big themes defining 2020, along with a handful of notable news items.

The pandemic has hit our Diabetes Community on so many different levels, including but not limited to the following:

We cant overlook the mental health effects all of the above both individually and collectively had on people with diabetes (PWDs).

Mental health has been a lesser-discussed aspect in official research and diabetes care until recently. (This has prompted some community advocates to devote themselves to helping.)

A new study by a team of diabetes experts published in the December 2020 edition of the Journal of Diabetes and Its Complications examined the early effects of COVID-19 nationally on U.S. adults with both type 1 and type 2 diabetes.

The researchers concluded that: There is a substantive increase in level of diabetes-related and general life stress and worry about being vulnerable to the virus, and significant social isolation [and] there is a significant impact on disease management.

Changes in the medium of healthcare delivery were only modest during the early stages of social restriction, but satisfaction with these changes was generally low, they added.

These findings suggest the need for greater attention to the emotional and psychosocial impact of the pandemic on this population and its implications for disease management and diabetes-related healthcare delivery.

The United States endured one of the most volatile presidential administrations and intense elections in modern history.

And with that, it seems everything was viewed through a political lens including the efforts to prevent and respond to the pandemic itself.

This made everything even more confusing and concerning for PWDs. For instance:

Of course, recognition and representation of BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) became a hot-button issue in 2020 following the police killing of George Floyd, sparking historic protests across the country.

Some PWDs were among those arrested, which brought up the issue of whether police were discriminatory or negligent with diabetes care and personal safety on the line.

Meanwhile, there was a great deal of introspection about racial disparities, in COVID-19 responses and beyond, and the implicit bias and systematic racism that exists in our U.S. healthcare system.

As everything began boiling over, some key diabetes advocacy organizations like JDRF and Beyond Type 1 came under fire for lacking diversity and not addressing the issue properly. See the JDRFs response here.

There were many panel discussions and studies presented on this topic at conferences, and a new nonprofit called Diversity in Diabetes (DiD) was formed by advocates of color to elevate efforts.

We at DiabetesMine conducted a survey on BIPOC experiences with diabetes technology and care in fall 2020, and found that more than 50 percent of respondents currently do not feel represented at all.

See also our video of BIPOC advocates expressing their desires for change.

Thankfully, 2020 also brought our D-Community a handful of highlights worth mentioning. Here they are, in no particular order:

Announced in late 2019, a long-awaited policy change finally took effect that allows people with insulin-dependent diabetes to legally pilot commercial airplanes.

Pietro Marsala became the first T1D licensed commercial pilot.

Ironically, this came to be just as the global pandemic sucker punched the travel industry.

Still, its an important change that puts the United States on par with other countries, and it takes away one more cant do for PWDs following their dreams.

While insulin affordability and access remains at crisis level in the United States, we saw two new forms of insulin finally get clearance from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and launched this past year:

A few important new diabetes devices were launched this past year as well:

Despite the economic struggles and effects on diabetes nonprofits, weve seen a few new orgs born during 2020 to address specific needs: the aforementioned Diversity in Diabetes (DiD), Beta Cell Foundation, and Mutual Aid Diabetes (MAD).

The latter two are grassroots orgs formed to help people in need get diabetes meds and supplies, beyond whats offered by existing industry-based financial assistance programs.

This year of content streaming gave us the Netflix reboot of The Baby-Sitters Club, once again featuring a main character who wears an insulin pump.

Also in the limelight was the passing of actor and famous diabetes supply spokesman Wilford Brimley. Pop singer Meghan Trainor also shared her gestational diabetes story publicly.

Be on the lookout for the new movie Greenland, written by Chris Sparling, husband of well-known diabetes advocate and author Kerri Sparling.

The movie features a T1D character and was released for on-demand viewing in December 2020. Its heading to HBO Max in 2021.

This past year has been extremely tough for all of us on so many fronts Heres to looking forward to a brighter, less stressful 2021 ahead.

Read more:
A Look Back on 2020: Diabetes Year in Review - Healthline

This entry was posted on January 5, 2021 at 1:52 am and is filed under Diabetes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed. |