It’s National Diabetes Awareness Month! Eight Ways to Get Involved, 537 Million Reasons to Care
By Cherise ShockleyMatthew Garza
Diabetes affects more than 537 million people worldwide. Take time during National Diabetes Awareness Month to connect with the community; here are eight simple ways to get involved.
For those of you who live with diabetes, work in diabetes, or have a loved one with diabetes, you may know that November is National Diabetes Awareness Month. Each year during this month – and especially on Nov. 14, World Diabetes Day – the community comes together to bring attention to diabetes and how it affects millions and millions of people in the United States and around the world. Through advocacy and awareness events, programs, and initiatives, the diabetes community uses this time to bring attention to the scale of this challenging condition. Together we can improve the lives of all people with diabetes and fight to reduce the impact of this global epidemic.
How can you make a difference? Join us in observing National Diabetes Awareness Month by getting involved in one (or more!) of these efforts:
-
Find a World Diabetes Day event near you led by the International Diabetes Federation. This year there are over 152 events in 50 countries, and many of them are virtual.
-
Post about National Diabetes Awareness Month on social media using hashtags #NDAM and #DiabetesAwarenessMonth.
-
Check out the American Diabetes Association’s events here. Follow and participate in the We Stand Greater Than Diabetes campaign by using the hashtag #WeStandGreaterThan on social media.
-
Participate in JDRF’s Movers, Shakers, and T1D Changemakers campaign, which celebrates those whose impact, influence, and great determination has helped make a difference in the lives of those with type 1. Learn about some of the movers and shakers in the community and find ways to become a changemaker this November here.
-
Explore the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) Small Steps, Big Difference campaign, focused on prediabetes and preventing diabetes. You can access tips and resources for those with prediabetes here, including social media posts to share.
-
Have social media? Follow diaTribe on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook as we share stories from members in the community throughout this month.
-
Want to learn more about Time in Range? Check out the TIR Hub and share it with your healthcare team. You can watch videos from leading healthcare providers and people with diabetes as they share the importance of this metric and how they use this data in their own lives (and the lives of the people with diabetes they treat).
-
Join diaTribe’s fight to eliminate diabetes stigma. Watch this year’s d21 Lightning Talks: Stigma and the Stories We Tell on harnessing the power of storytelling and check out last year’s d20 Lightning Talks: Five Perspectives on Diabetes Stigma which features black-ish star Anthony Anderson.
Have more ideas for how people can get involved in National Diabetes Awareness Month? Let us know!
