Diabetes Care and Management

In alignment with World Diabetes Day this November, CHILD is proud to showcase four projects relating to the care and management of Diabetes. These projects exemplify the strides being made in addressing diabetes – a growing global health challenge and in Singapore – through innovation, collaboration, and targeted interventions.

1. With the aim of exploring factors associated with poor glycaemic control and improving glycaemic control in diabetics, SingHealth Polyclinics & Montfort Care utilised multidisciplinary team-based interventions to effectively improve diabetes in socially-disadvantaged patients, with 73% in study group achieving improvements in blood sugar levels. [3rd Prize Awardee (Patient Experience category) of the Singapore Healthcare Management (SHM) Congress 2023]

2. Through enhanced protocols for managing hyper- and hypo-glycemia, along with improvement referral pathways to community care, this project by Ng Teng Fong General Hospital reduced Diabetes Mellitus related admissions to Emergency Department by 5%, facilitating right siting of patients.

3. By utilising AI-driven mobile clinics for diabetic retinopathy screening as a cost-effective alternative to traditional models, this multidisciplinary team from Republic Polytechnic, Singapore Eye Research Institute (SERI), Singapore National Eye Centre (SNEC), Duke-NUS Medical School, London School of Economics & Diabetes Singapore found cost savings of up to $515 per patient. With potential lifetime savings of $15 billion, this approach empowers primary care while advancing community-based preventive healthcare.

4. To mitigate diabetic foot complications through early detection, education and timely intervention, the team from National Healthcare Group Polyclinics, National Healthcare Group HQ & Nanyang Technological University conducted a retrospective review of Foot Surveillance Service for patients with moderate to high-risk diabetic foot in primary care. With identified key factors like age, prior diabetic foot ulcers, and skin fissures associated with foot condition deterioration, this study offers actionable insights to improve patient outcomes and reduce diabetic foot complications. [Gold Awardee of Singapore Primary Care Award (Poster) at Singapore Health & Biomedical Congress (SHBC) 2023]

These projects are a testament to the innovation and dedication in tackling diabetes-related challenges. Together, they embody the ongoing commitment to improve health outcomes for individuals with diabetes.