Most people with long term conditions manage it themselves for the vast majority of the time – 90% in the case of diabetes. A key step in enabling people with long term conditions, such as diabetes, to live full and enjoyable lives is for them to be able to manage their condition as effectively and easily as possible. With an estimated 17 million people in England having one or more long term conditions, ensuring that people receive the appropriate support is vital.

The role of the Education and Self-Management Theme is to develop new and extend the range of existing patient education and self-management provision to support and empower people to manage their own conditions. This will make a major contribution to both the health of people and be cost effective for the NHS.

In the Self Management and Education Theme we have three main areas of investigation:

• A study to test an integrated approach for promoting effective self-management in people with established Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus - A cluster randomised controlled trial of the Ongoing DESMOND education programme
• A randomised controlled trial of the DESMOND Foundation Programme for people with established Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus in a multi-ethnic population in Leicester and South Birmingham
• work on quality development as part of the structured Self Management and Education Theme