Overlapping themes: Disparities, mental health, and COVID-19
The topics of health disparities in diabetes prevention, management, and care and promoting health equity, as well as the impact of COVID-19, are “certainly timely this year,” said Dr. Dabelea.
At least eight meeting sessions will address various aspects of disparity, including a Friday afternoon symposium, “Race, Racism, and Diabetes Research,” a Saturday morning oral presentation on “Mitigating Disparities in the Screening and Diagnosis of Diabetes,” and on Monday morning, the symposium “Disparities in the Use of Diabetes Medications and Technologies.”
A related topic, insulin access, will be addressed in a Friday morning “mini-symposium” that will cover the issue from U.S. and international perspectives, including humanitarian crisis situations. Related to that, on Sunday afternoon a panel will discuss the Ukraine situation specifically.
Regarding mental health, one noteworthy session is a symposium on Saturday afternoon: “Suicide and Self-Injury – Unveiling and Addressing the Hidden Nightmare in Diabetes.”
“It’s an underrecognized problem and we’ve devoted a symposium to really drill into it. I think that’s going to be an important story for all of us to think about,” Dr. Gabbay said.
Another mental health session on Saturday afternoon will examine “Stigma in Diabetes Care – Evidence and Solutions.” Dr. Dabelea noted, “Mental health is a rising concern in the United States, especially in people with chronic diseases in the wake of the pandemic ... Of course there’s overlap in mechanisms in type 1 and type 2, but I think there are also distinct pathways.”
COVID-19 will be somewhat less of a focus than in the past 2 years, but there will certainly still be plenty about it. A Friday morning mini-symposium will cover new findings in pathophysiology, another session on Monday afternoon will look at the impact of the pandemic on hypoglycemia risk, and COVID-19 will be the subject of several late-breaking posters on Sunday afternoon. One in particular will report a review of diabetes as a risk factor for long COVID.
Celebrating in person in the Big Easy
But unlike the past 2 years, COVID-19 has not kept ADA from meeting in person in 2022. “I think it’s going to be amazing ... We’re so excited to be in person and interacting,” Dr. Gabbay said.
He observed that virtual meetings – as ADA and most other medical societies have been forced into for the past 2 years during the pandemic – fail to capture “how science is advanced by the casual conversations in the hallway and collaborations and new ideas. It’s really this incredible incubator. For me, that’s the most exciting part.”
The location, New Orleans, also factors into his excitement: “What a great place to do this. It’s conducive to celebrating. It’s been a long couple of years.”
A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.