To a New Decade – A Message from Kelly Close

By Kelly Close

As 2019 comes to an end, we reflect on a year of hope and growth, with immense gratitude for our community. In 2020 we will continue to focus on helping people with diabetes and prediabetes be their best selves

2019 was a year of connecting and welcoming even more people into the diaTribe community. We are proud to have served nearly 2.5 million readers this year and to have achieved many major milestones along the way.

This year, we:

• Wrote nearly 200 articles on automated insulin delivery systems, diabetes medications that protect against complications, and new standards of care;

• Partnered with 27 non-profits to move the needle on advocacy and educational initiatives;

• Attended conferences in San Francisco, South Korea, Spain, Alaska, Texas, and beyond, to meet with people on the cutting edge of research;

• Expanded our networks to include more scientists and researchers, health care professionals, policymakers, and Diabetes Care and Education Specialists;

• Represented patient voices and met with top regulatory officials at multiple FDA meetings to ensure that the voices of people with diabetes were heard;

• Spoke at nearly 20 events throughout the diabetes ecosystem and around the world to spread the messages of diaTribe;

• Held our fourth successful D19 “innovation lab” involving over 50 leaders in diabetes, policy, technology, and other fields to transform action around type 2 diabetes and to propel learning about food as medicine.

Most importantly, channeling learnings from Stanford’s behavioral health expert, Dr. BJ Fogg (we so recommend his brand-new book Tiny Habits!), diaTribe was able to help more people be successful this year.

We learned a lot this year about what is possible – virtually everyone can strive each day to improve their time in range and work toward better time in range for the communities in which they live and work. Together with our growing community, and so many other nonprofit organizations, we are fighting the status quo and shifting the dialogue towards avoiding hypoglycemia and hyperglycemia, as well as diabetes-related complications.

We’re more energized than ever and we are also more somber than ever. It’s entirely unacceptable that all people with diabetes don’t have the medicine they need or cannot get access to tools that benefit them, like real-time and professional continuous glucose monitors, connected glucose meters, and coaching. More focus in 2020 on better tools will serve us all well.

As we move into the next decade, we want to pause and think: how can we be our best selves? How can we ensure that each of us and our loved ones are as physically, mentally, and emotionally well and productive as possible?

At diaTribe, in 2020, we want to work with the diabetes community to empower people with the knowledge and tools to engage in their own health, and we hope to help healthcare providers and leaders in diabetes deepen their understanding and awareness of the power of improving time in range. It’s an exciting path we’ve set for ourselves and for our work in the diabetes community in the coming year and we thank you for all your help toward reaching this!

We are immensely grateful for our global diaTribe community – you inspire our work each and every day and we could not list our accomplishments without your support. If you enjoy and learn from our articles, believe in the change we are fighting to create in the world of diabetes, or feel inspired to further support the diabetes community in the new year, please consider donating today – every dollar helps.

From the bottom of our hearts, thank you. Here’s to a new decade together.

Yours truly,

kelly