The last time I was in Stockholm was seven years ago for the 2015 EASD Conference. This year, as I walked to the conference centre from the train, everything about the venue flooded back. ‘Here we go again,’ I thought. Except this time was different.
I wrote this about #EASD2015:
‘There is much mention of the ‘patient perspective’ and on Monday there was an entire symposium dedicated to it. Unfortunately, there wasn’t an actual ‘patient’ on the panel, which surely is weird...But despite the limited presence of PWD in the official programme, there are a lot of satellite events and activities taking place.’
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One of those satellite activities was the first ever #docday°. It was in a musty, overheated, overcrowded back room of a co-working cafe, and it brought together a rabble of diabetes advocates from around the world who had somehow made their way to EASD. I think most of us were there with Roche or Johnson and Johnson for one of their blogger events.
But #docday° was different. This one was completely about and by people with diabetes, showcasing community and peer support. People shared their advocacy efforts and what they were doing in their own networks to support people with diabetes, and shared ideas about how others could do the same. Despite being all about diabetes, we were not welcome as a group at the biggest diabetes conference in Europe.
Fast forward seven years to this week, and the same spirit from the first #docday° event was visible. But this time, it was on stage as part of the scientific program at the conference. The #dedoc° Symposium was on the first day of EASD and it set a tone of inclusion and collaboration, making a very clear point that people with diabetes have a rightful place here, at professional conferences.
Adding to the #dedoc° symposium were the #dedoc° voices – diabetes advocates from across the world – participating fully in the conference. This is the largest scholarship program in the world for diabetes advocates and they made sure they were seen and heard! Everywhere! You only needed to walk the corridors of the conference to see the voices collaborating, not only with each other, but with health professionals, researchers and industry. Social media coverage of the EASD is dominated by the constant stream of ‘reporting back’. And almost evert single health professional I spoke with at the conference knew about #dedoc° and supported our very clear mission of #NothingAboutUsWithoutUs. How amazing is that?!
#dedoc° is all about inclusion. That’s why we can, hand on heart, say that we welcome advocates from around the world to become a #dedoc° voice. But it’s more than that. Our events are open to everyone, including our symposia at diabetes conferences. At EASD, our session was the only one that was live streamed to everyone and anyone via our socials channels. No one needed a costly registration to get inside the Stockholsmassan or another way in. Everyone could see Andrea Limbourg speak about some incredible work from advocates in Indonesia, France and Ireland, and Jeff Hitchcock explain how Children with Diabetes managed to keep supporting families of kids with diabetes throughout COVID, and Tom Dean share details of the brilliant #DiabetesChat and how he has embraced the idea of providing a truly welcoming platform for diabetes friends from around the world to gather on Twitter Spaces for a weekly chat. And Bastian Hauck tell the story of that overheated room for the first #docday° and how what happened on that afternoon planted a seed for a global movement of people with diabetes. #dedoc° provides a platform to elevate others. It’s a privilege to be part of it.
Disclosure
My travel and accommodation were covered by #dedoc°, where I am employed as Head of Advocacy. Thanks to EASD for the press pass.
