Use of Social Media as a Platform for Education and Support for People With Diabetes During a Global Pandemic.

BACKGROUND: Patient education is a fundamental aspect of self-management of diabetes. The aim of this study was to understand whether a social media platform is a viable method to deliver education to people with diabetes and understand if people would engage and interact with it. METHODS: Education sessions were provided via 3 platforms in a variety of formats. "Tweetorials" and quizzes were delivered on the diabetes101 Twitter account, a virtual conference via Zoom and video presentations uploaded to YouTube. Audience engagement during and after the sessions were analyzed using social media metrics including impressions and engagement rate using Twitter analytics, Tweepsmap, and YouTube Studio. RESULTS: A total of 22 "tweetorial" sessions and 5 quizzes with a total of 151 polls (both in tweetorial and quiz sessions) receiving a total of 21,269 votes took place. Overall, the 1-h tweetorial sessions gained 1,821,088 impressions with an engagement rate of 6.3%. The sessions received a total of 2,341 retweets, 2,467 replies and 10,060 likes. The quiz days included 113 polls receiving 16,069 votes. The conference covered 8 topics and was attended live by over 100 people on the day. The video presentations on YouTube have received a total of 2,916 views with a watch time of 281 h and 8,847 impressions. CONCLUSION: Despite the limitations of social media, it can be harnessed to provide relevant reliable information and education about diabetes allowing people the time and space to learn at their own pace.

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on people with diabetes and diabetes services: A pan-European survey of diabetes specialist nurses undertaken by the Foundation of European Nurses in Diabetes survey consortium.

AIM: To describe diabetes nurses' perspectives on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on people with diabetes and diabetes services across Europe. METHODS: An online survey developed using a rapid Delphi method. The survey was translated into 17 different languages and disseminated electronically in 27 countries via national diabetes nurse networks. RESULTS: Survey responses from 1829 diabetes nurses were included in the analysis. The responses indicated that 28% (n = 504) and 48% (n = 873) of diabetes nurses felt the COVID-19 pandemic had impacted 'a lot' on the physical and psychological risks of people with diabetes, respectively. The following clinical problems were identified as having increased 'a lot': anxiety 82% (n = 1486); diabetes distress 65% (n = 1189); depression 49% (n = 893); acute hyperglycaemia 39% (n = 710) and foot complications 18% (n = 323). Forty-seven percent (n = 771) of respondents identified that the level of care provided to people with diabetes had declined either extremely or quite severely. Self-management support, diabetes education and psychological support were rated by diabetes nurse respondents as having declined extremely or quite severely during the COVID-19 pandemic by 31% (n = 499), 63% (n = 1,027) and 34% (n = 551), respectively. CONCLUSION: The findings show that diabetes nurses across Europe have seen significant increases in both physical and psychological problems in their patient populations during COVID-19. The data also show that clinical diabetes services have been significantly disrupted. As the COVID-19 situation continues, we need to adapt care systems with some urgency to minimise the impact of the pandemic on the diabetes population.