Challenges in and Opportunities for Individualizing Diabetes Technology: A Position Statement by the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) and the American Diabetes Association (ADA) Diabetes Technology Working Group.

Abstract

From finger-stick blood glucose monitoring and mechanical insulin pens in the 1970s to modern automated insulin delivery systems, rapidly progressing advances in diabetes technology are transforming management options for people with diabetes, particularly those with type 1 diabetes but also, increasingly, people with type 2 diabetes. However, access to life-changing diabetes technologies is neither uniform nor universally covered, and there is no one-size-fits-all approach. In this position statement, we emphasize to health care professionals the importance of supporting individuals with diabetes to access and use the right diabetes technology according to personal needs, capabilities, and preferences. In doing so, we highlight the equal importance of avoiding disparities in the provision of diabetes technology by challenging preconceived barriers, which can be overcome with education and determination. We also make a series of suggestions for action to advance the more widespread adoption of diabetes technology while minimizing the "digital divide."