Navigating the Sea of Diabetes

Abstract

In reflecting on where we need to go in diabetes prevention and care and how to get there, I have chosen sailing, or more specifically, a boat, as a metaphor to give direction to my remarks. Although I am certainly not a sailor, sailing holds a special meaning for me. My late husband, Scott, loved sailing or certainly the idea of sailing and had a craftsman friend make a sailboat necklace for me. While Scott was ill, I wore the necklace every day to help us navigate through those rough waters. Our sailboat continues to help me live, work, and volunteer in diabetes. Our ultimate destination is a world free of the devastation of diabetes. This is our vision at the Division of Diabetes Translation at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).1 I hope these words, from the nation's public health agency for diabetes, give voice to your vision as well. Our respective missions may be different, but I hope this vision will serve as the unifying destination we are all seeking. Because diabetes and pre-diabetes affect not only individuals, but also families, communities, and society, we need to take action in each of these arenas (Figure 1).2 There are challenges and opportunities in each of these arenas for bringing us closer to a world free of the devastation of diabetes. The further out you move from individual to societal interventions, the more complex and multifactorial the approaches become and the longer it can take to achieve change. But the impact is more far-reaching. Individuals are crucial to achieving our vision, societal changes are crucial for achieving our vision, and so are the arenas (families, communities, organizations) in between. Figure 1. The ecological model of diabetes care. In navigating the sea of diabetes, it is important to …