BACKGROUND
The rising costs of managing diabetes account for 10% of the NHS budget, roughly 1 million GBP per hour, 80% of which is spent on treating complications of poorly controlled diabetes.1 GP practices are at the forefront of healthcare services helping people to manage their health conditions; especially now with the COVID-19 pandemic affecting frontline services. Therefore, personal interactive help from smart devices with digital assistants installed, such as Alexa, could greatly aid self-care. Feedback from 20 people with diabetes in our pilot project in Staffordshire indicates that such digital assistants could help to improve dietary choices and medication adherence now, and in the future, to manage footcare.
CURRENT DIETARY ADVICE CONFUSION
According to the Staffordshire pilot project focus group participants, current diabetic dietary advice is ‘confusing’, and ‘difficult to put into practice and maintain’. These views are supported in the broader literature2,3 and on Diabetes UK support forums.4 It is easy to understand why. …