A new report is aiming to reduce the impact of type 2 diabetes in Greater Manchester by helping communities understand their unique set of diabetes challenges, identify areas and populations at greatest risk, and design targeted interventions that can put change in motion.
Research findings and insights on the impact of type 2 diabetes in Greater Manchester has been published in the report by Health Innovation Manchester, in collaboration with Manchester Metropolitan University.
The report, which is part of the Cities Changing Diabetes (CCD) Manchester programme – a joint working project that has been funded and developed by Health Innovation Manchester and Novo Nordisk – highlights how local ethnic minority communities and an increasing number of younger people within the city region are affected by the condition.
For the report, colleagues from the Manchester Metropolitan University Institute of Sport and the University of Salford examined all existing research and initiatives in Greater Manchester that address the current challenges.
The research will help to determine where future initiatives could provide added value, to identify any gaps in existing local activities, where there might be duplication in activity and where pooling resources could help achieve greater impact.
Professor Neil Reeves from Manchester Metropolitan University and Professor Chris Nester from the University of Salford said:
“Greater Manchester has examples of excellent diabetes research within the city-region’s unique infrastructure and research strengths including digital technologies, prevention of lower limb complications and interventional clinical trials.
“A coordinated approach, bringing together expertise across Greater Manchester could create a strong global offer for attracting large diabetes research programmes and impact key outcomes such as amputation rates.”
Their analysis identified a total of 47 current studies in the field of type 2 diabetes, with more than 70% being focused on preventing diabetes-associated health complications including ulceration, amputation sand cardiovascular events.
They also found that under-served groups have typically been under-represented in Greater Manchester diabetes research studies, presenting an important opportunity to reflect the diversity of the UK’s population in future clinical research.
A digital dashboard has now been created to help map Greater Manchester research studies and capabilities related to diabetes, with university researchers working with the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Applied Research Collaboration Greater Manchester and the British Muslim Heritage Centre through the Cities Changing Diabetes Manchester programme.
Dr Tracey Vell MBE, Clinical Director at Health Innovation Manchester, said: “The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted how vital programmes such as Cities Changing Diabetes are to maintaining and improving the health of our population. During the early stages of the pandemic those living with diabetes and obesity faced a disproportionate risk of poorer outcomes, highlighting the ongoing risk of health complications associated with type 2 diabetes.
“We hope that the work undertaken during the Cities Changing Diabetes programme will further support the health and care system in Greater Manchester, as well as our research partners, to collectively tackle type 2 diabetes and reduce its impact within the city region. We at Health Innovation Manchester are enthusiastic about how this work and ongoing collaborations can develop further innovations and research to support type 2 diabetes prevention and care, with a person-centred approach, within Greater Manchester.”
