Spreading awareness of diabetes, its complications, and the best strategies to treat the condition is crucial in today’s world. We need to keep up with the latest innovations in techniques that help us treat these conditions. Thankfully, technology has allowed numerous advancements to be made in terms of accessing diabetes education tools and resources. In this post, we take a deep dive into the latest innovations that you should keep track of and what they can do for you.
Digital Health Apps And Tech
Let’s start with the many digital health technologies and tools that have been brought to reality throughout the past couple of years. Smartphones began to make our lives easier, and then came wearables. Today, we even can wear a relatively compact device on our skin to get instant readings of blood sugar levels.
Diabetics in the modern day need to take full advantage of what these tools are able to offer them. Now, the question is – how do you use these tools to help you manage diabetes and get more education on the topic?
It’s straightforward, and all of these tools come together to give you access to a collective system. So, let’s take a look at the different technologies and how they can help:
- CGM: First up is the continuous glucose monitor, device that has seen some increasing interest recently. These are small devices that sit on your skin. A small ligament is injected slightly beneath the surface of your skin, which will continuously monitor your blood sugar levels. You can receive the data on a special receiver device or use your smartphone with many of modern CGM devices. By keeping track of your glucose levels at all times, you can build data that educates you on how well you are managing your diabetes.
- Wearable Tech: Fitness trackers and smartwatches have also become very popular, especially among people who want to increase awareness of their own well-being. Many of these watches can track your heart rate, detect when you’re sleeping, and monitor your physical activity levels. We know how important it is to keep active and sleep well when diabetes sets in, so this type of data can give you vital information that can be used to determine if you need to improve on these two parts of your life
- Smartphone Apps: The major smartphone app stores have millions of apps and among these, several options actually give you the ability to record important data surrounding your health. This includes a large selection of apps that can record your weight, activity levels, sleep data, and even what you eat. When you sync these apps with your wearable tech, it’s a great way to ensure teh accuracy of information that is recorded. Additionally, many continuous glucose monitors can submit blood sugar readings to your smartphone and allow you to easily bring up a record for a specified period of time.
Telehealth And Virtual Consultations
Another significant improvement in ways that diabetes education and resources can be made available to diabetics is through the introduction of virtual consultations, as well as telehealth services.
Patients usually had to visit their doctor if they had questions or needed a check-up. Sometimes, these questions do not require a visit to the doctor’s office, but can still serve as important educational pieces during diabetes management.
With virtual consultations, you have the opportunity to ask these questions to a nurse or healthcare provider without being present in person. Telehealth services often include a phone call, but many facilities are also offering video calls for their patients today.
You can use these to do a check-in with your doctor, but this type of service can also become valuable for education. Let’s consider a scenario where you regularly experience low blood sugar, but you have also made some changes to your diet. You may not necessarily need to a physical exam, but speaking to a provider or diabetes expert can still give you answers to the questions you have.
The Use Of Virtual Reality In Medical Education
Another emerging innovation is virtual reality technology. Although it didn’t gain momentum for a couple of years, VR has recently started trending. It used to be a go-to place for people who wanted to play games. Today, however, virtual reality is much more than that.
In fact, even businesses are turning to VR to create virtual meeting spaces where different teams and leaders can come together.
For diabetic patient, VR also offers an opportunity to have a virtual consultation with their physician or another expert in the management of diabetes. Some programs provide tours of educational areas, offering access to important information on diabetes, how to manage the disease effectively, and more.
Of course, it’s still a growing technology and the resources might be a little more limited compared to the other innovations we have talked about. With this said, it’s a rapidly growing tech field, and there are already several medical companies turning to VR as a way to offer education, resources, and even consultation services to their patients.
To get started with VR, you’ll need a supported headset. There are various platforms that you can join, so be sure to do some research into the different platforms and find one that fits your specific requirements. Some of the current innovations may require no investment from your side, which can be great if you simply want to tap into the VR market and see how it could help you learn more about diabetes.
Conclusion
From digital health tools to incorporating educational elements into virtual reality programs, technology has improved access to education and resources that diabetics rely on. We’ve taken a look at a few of these tools in this post, so be sure to explore them and discover how they can make your life easier.