Type 2 diabetes, from the Proximity Care project innovative and "at home" help: education for self-management, sensors for blood glucose monitoring and screening with AI to keep under control chronic disease widespread in inland areas of Lucca province

Offering new, easy-to-learn, and "at home" ways to address and manage, in collaboration with general practitioners, type 2 diabetes, a chronic disease that is widespread in Garfagnana and Media Valle del Serchio, inland areas of the province of Lucca: this is the goal of a line of action within Proximity Care, the multi-year project proposed by the Sant'Anna School with funding from the Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Lucca. The proposal is aimed at all adults with type 2 diabetes, whatever the severity of the disease and the treatment they are undergoing, and does not affect the aspects of pharmacological care, but offers tools for living with diabetes while taking care of their health in 360 degrees.

To date, there are 19 general practitioners in the Serchio Valley who have joined the program and are offering it to their patients; there are 60 people with type 2 diabetes who started in February 2024 with the first of the activities, the self-management education pathway. The research team estimates that participation will increase incrementally by June 2026, to involve about 1,500 people with type 2 diabetes.  

There are three activities proposed by this line of Proximity Care activities, which people can access by choosing all or part of them. The first activity involves self-management education in a group setting, with trained Asl Toscana nord ovest or " laypersons" (non-medical or health personnel), which aims to make the person with type two diabetes capable of managing his or her own health and understanding how the latter can affect everyday life; topics such as nutrition, physical activity, emotions, self-monitoring, and checkups will also be discussed. The second activity consists of blood glucose monitoring through sensors to be placed on the arm, which allow for continuous monitoring that is easy to manage by the patient and the general practitioner, providing the person and the physician with a better understanding of what factors are determinants in blood glucose management. The third activity coincides with the monitoring of the ocular fundus using state-of-the-art, simple and effective technologies, available in clinics close to home, which help monitor eye health each year.

Those interested in participating can contact their general practitioner and ask to be part of the project. "The greater the participation, the greater the opportunity for those with this disease to take the best care of their health, and the greater the contribution in terms of health for the population of the Serchio Valley," as the project team points out.