MYDESMOND: NHS diabetes course now free in response to coronavirus

Every person with type 2 diabetes in the UK can access an NHS online education course to help them manage their condition during the coronavirus outbreak. 

In an unprecedented move, the digital version of DESMOND – a gold standard type 2 diabetes structured education programme – has now been made available for free across the country to ensure people have reliable information to help them self-manage while the country is in lockdown.

Professor Davies, Professor of Diabetes Medicine at the University of Leicester, said:

“As the country enters a national lockdown, people with type 2 diabetes are now more than ever having to manage their condition with limited support. We have made MyDESMOND available for free to everyone with the condition in the UK because we want to make sure people have access to high-quality information at this unprecedented time.”

 MyDESMOND is based on the award-winning DESMOND self-management diabetes education programme. It brings all the content and research evidence from the face-to-face programme onto a portable interactive web-based platform for you to discover on a mobile devise. 

It features all the diabetes-related content as well as booster sessions allowing users to interact with the programme on an on-going basis. There is also an opportunity to ask an expert, while people can also track their activity levels and link up to the Fitbit, Google Fit or Garmin. Weight, blood pressure, HbA1c, diet and cholesterol can also be followed, with an ability to set daily.

This programme gives people with type 2 diabetes the chance to connect and support each other via the chat forum with members of the DESMOND community. 

To sign up for MyDESMOND, email myDESMOND@uhl-tr.nhs.uk with your name, preferred email address, the county you live in/your postcode and NHS number (if you have this to hand).