Be Inspired To Help Change Diabetes

Amidst the growing diabetes pandemic, we can find inspiration in uplifting stories and encouraging news of progress at the forefront of changing diabetes. There are also many inspiring examples around the world of effective diabetes policy and care. Using these examples as benchmarks, we can explore new ways to raise awareness of the global burden of diabetes and develop sustainable health policies that generate value-based outcomes for people with diabetes.
In this section, we invite you to explore a wealth of resources that may serve as a source of inspiration for your efforts in changing diabetes and improving the lives of people with diabetes.
One way to empathize with what diabetes patients go through every day is to take the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Quality of Life Survey.
WHO-5 Well-Being Life Survey
Depression is common among people with diabetes, affecting 10-20% of the patient population1 and impacting quality of life. International clinical guidelines for diabetes management recommend systematic monitoring of psychological well-being in people with diabetes as part of ongoing care.2Unfortunately, the diagnosis of depression is often missed by healthcare professionals, so using a simple tool such as the WHO-5 Well-Being Index can be helpful.3
The WHO-5 Well-Being Index (WHO-5) is a short, self-administered survey that was developed to evaluate well-being and quality of life. The WHO-5 is a popular screening tool because it only takes 2-3 minutes to complete. Studies have shown that WHO-5 is a valid instrument for detecting depressive episodes in patients with diabetes.4,5 The questionnaire consists of five questions which are answered on a scale of 5 (all of the time) to 0 (at no time). The total score is calculated by adding the scores for each question and multiplying by four. A score of 50 or below is indicative of low mood, though not necessarily depression. A score of 28 or below indicates likely depression and warrants further