Dr Anne Smith, author of the Creative English programme, wrote about findings and participant stories from the pilot of Creative English for Diabetes ran in Barking and Dagenham.
BD_Collective in Barking and Dagenham, a network of voluntary and community sector organisations, was commissioned by North East London ICB to co-design and test new solutions to improve diabetes and health literacy outcomes in the borough. As one of London’s most deprived areas, and one of it’s most diverse, there are often challenges in tackling health inequalities within the borough, with rates of diabetes being a key health issue for residents. FaithAction was one of 7 partners developing solutions in partnership with diabetic and pre-diabetic residents. Residents quickly identified a lack of English language, jargon and illiteracy in languages written materials are translated into, combined with misinformation they had heard and believed as key barriers. Quite simply if you don’t know what the condition you have is and what advice means to manage it, you are not going to being able to do anything about it!