New diabetes nursing guidance for people experiencing homelessness

Latest guidance has been published for nurses and allied health professionals to improve the care of people experiencing homelessness with diabetes across the UK.

The guidance was produced as a result of a 15-month (April 2023 – June 2024) Burdett Trust for Nursing funded collaborative project.

People with diabetes who are homeless are at much higher risk of serious complications or death because of their condition, as well as daily challenges getting access to healthy food and adequate care.

With funding from the Burdett Trust for Nursing, the charity Pathway led a partnership project including the QNI to gain a deeper understanding of the prevalence of diabetes in people experiencing homelessness, the challenges for practitioners and support workers in meeting their needs, and the successful approaches we can take towards their care.

The project saw participation from specialist inclusion health and diabetes nurses, as well as lived experience voices.

Sam Dorney-Smith QN, guidance author, said: “People experiencing homelessness with diabetes face multiple challenges and are known to have very poor health outcomes.

“This project has brought together expert patients, specialist diabetes and inclusion health nurses and other allied practitioners to develop insights on how care can be improved. 

“The resulting training resources are designed to support a whole range of professionals – from specialist diabetes practitioners all the way through to homelessness outreach workers.

“These resources are packed with tips to help improve care locally and to create better partnerships with patients and other services.”