Diabetes Week part 3: diabetes on the move

Our #T1Dinsights research identified that there is a huge amount of equipment required to manage T1D, a lot of which needs to be carried around with you at all times. We were sent photos of rucksacks filled with glucose meters, test strips, insulin pens, bananas, jelly babies and Lucozade – all needed for a trip out for the day. We also heard stories of the embarrassment of a young man having to carry a ‘man bag’ in a nightclub but that the fear of actually losing it far outweighed the humiliation and ribbing he got from his friends. It sounds like a burden.

Following on from this, we then went out for dinner with a friend with T1D who pulled various bits of kit ‘complete with pocket fluff’ out of various pockets in his trousers and watched him awkwardly test his blood glucose as he couldn’t quite get his finger under the end of the test strip when the device was resting on the table.

We were made aware that insulin needs to be refrigerated which can be problematic when away from home and that although you are supposed to use a new needle each time you inject, many T1D-ers don’t do this as disposing of sharps when out and about can be difficult.

There are a number of carry cases available on the market which claim to have everything you need to manage your diabetes in them – but these look so ‘medical’ and un-stylish that I can image that is the last thing you would want to pull out in a nightclub.

The idea: Add some style

Well, why not? It’s a bag and you carry it around with you… why shouldn’t it look good? And how about a bag which moves away from the ‘one case fits all’ scenario and instead goes for an individual ‘pocket friendly’ style?