Since its launch in 2024, approximately 1,170 families of children and teens with Type 1 diabetes in Ireland, with an average diagnosis of 4 years, have registered to use the multi award winning DigiBete Self-Management App and Video Platform.

The App supports children and adolescents with Type 1 diabetes and their families by giving them a place to organise their diabetes appointments, ongoing care, and receive access to relevant educational resources. Families can access age appropriate diabetes information such as quizzes, videos, food & exercise support.

Families can also develop a record of personalised information about their diabetes care, set reminders of their clinic appointments and receive invites to various family events, education workshops and much more.

DigiBete data shows that the education videos on the app have been viewed 7,673 times by users and the quiz was completed by 863 users with an average score of 64% meaning that users were learning new information about Type 1 diabetes management.

The data also shows that where paediatric diabetes teams have actively promoted the app to their families, take up is excellent. To date, 15 paediatric diabetes clinic teams have completed their training with 10 actively onboarding their families to the app

Families onboarded is a percentage of the total number of patients attending the individual diabetes clinic. 

A huge benefit for paediatric diabetes teams is that they can share accurate and timely clinical advice and information directly with all their families, send appointment reminders and share diabetes management advice such as sick day rules and good care reminders in a matter of minutes, saving a lot of time in their day.

Christina Hamilton, Diabetes Ireland said “We are delighted to now see 33% of families using DigiBete. With support from West Pharmaceutical Services, Diabetes Ireland is able to make the licenced app available freely in Ireland to support children and young people with diabetes and their families and paediatric diabetes teams nationwide. It also allows us to reach families more directly to offer our services and extend invites to our family events. I would hope to see the remaining paediatric diabetes teams who have completed the training start to onboard their families this year making it available to an even larger audience”.

To access the App, families need to contact their diabetes team to obtain a code and easy self-registration instructions and we would encourage all families to speak to their team today or at their next appointment. Meanwhile, families can access the education resource platform by visiting www.diabetes.ie.

Maddie Julian, DigiBete CEO said “the App is already used widely in the UK with over 95% of paediatric and young adult clinics using the App and 98% of patients registered and using the resources. This is a great start for Ireland, and we will continue to work with Diabetes Ireland and the diabetes clinic teams to make access to the app as widely available as we can’’.

DigiBete continues to add new information sections to the platform and are now beginning to add Irish related information which is a further benefit for Irish users. This includes a comprehensive “Schools Training” platform to help teachers and SNAs to learn about and manage students with type 1 diabetes during school hours.

DigiBete has also collaborated with Breakthrough T1D (formerly JDRF) to co-create information on a new “Emotional Wellbeing” section for children and teens living with type 1 diabetes. There are further plans to launch a new “Carb Counting” functionality within the app in the not too distant future.

“This year, access to the app will also be extended to young adults with diabetes. We have just started reaching out to young adult diabetes clinic teams in Ireland offering them an opportunity to receive some training which will enable them to onboard their 16-25 year olds living with diabetes” added Ms Hamilton.

Diabetes Ireland has partnered with West Pharmaceutical Services, a global leader in innovative solutions for injectable drug administration to support the rollout of DigiBete in Ireland. “We are excited to partner with Diabetes Ireland to help bring this important resource to families of children and young people living with diabetes in Ireland, which will enable them to access support and manage their condition more effectively,” said Aileen Kinsella, VP & General Manager, Global Pharma at West. “West has played a significant role in helping to deliver diabetes care globally for over 90+ years and continues to be a leading global supplier of containment solutions for the major injectable drug manufacturers in the diabetes market.”

To learn more about the DigiBete App please click here!