Center for Integration Science
Developing a new field of science at the intersection of social medicine, health-system design, and service delivery
8-page policy brief presents PEN-Plus as a proven model for decentralizing care and treatment for type 1 diabetes, sickle cell diseases, rheumatic and congenital heart disease, and other severe NCDs that cause hundreds of thousands of avoidable deaths every year among the world’s poorest children and young adults.
Alma J Adler, Celina Trujillo, Leah Schwartz, Laura Drown, Jacquelin Pierre, Christopher Noble, Theophilus Allison, Rebecca Cook, Cyrus Randolph, Gene Bukhman
Despite the severe nature of T1D and growing burden in sub- Saharan Africa, little is currently known about the impact of T1D on patients and caregivers in the region. We conducted a qualitative study consisting of interviews with patients with T1D, caregivers, providers, civil society members and a policy-maker in Liberia to better understand the psychosocial and economic impact of living with T1D, knowledge of T1D and self-management, and barriers and facilitators for accessing T1D care.
T1D was found to have a significant impact on patients and caregivers, and informants identified several key individual and systems-level barriers to effective T1D care in Liberia. Addressing these concerns is vital for designing sustainable and effective programmes for treating patients living with T1D.