ACBRD’s Prof Jane Speight co-leads new EASD guideline
By Dr Elizabeth Holmes-Truscott [1]
The ACBRD welcomes the release of the world’s first clinical guideline on diabetes distress [2]. Launched today at the European Association for the Study of Diabetes [3] (EASD) annual meeting in Vienna, this milestone represents a turning point in diabetes care.
What is diabetes distress?
Diabetes can make people feel frustrated, guilty, annoyed, sad, worried, or stressed. This emotional burden of living with diabetes is known as “diabetes distress”. Research shows around one in three adults with diabetes experience serious distress, and up to 80% report at least some diabetes-related problems in their daily lives. For example, frustrations with blood glucose levels, worries about complications, exhausted by the daily demands of self-care. These feelings can affect how people manage their diabetes and their lives more broadly.
Check out our past blogs [4] to learn more about diabetes distress.
Why is this guideline important?
Until now, health professionals had no evidence-based guidance on how to identify and address diabetes distress.
This new guideline promotes respectful, person-centred care that meets each individuals’ needs. It includes new evidence-based:
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- Good Practice Statements about the routine assessment of diabetes distress, using simple questions and validated tools.
- Recommendations about how to manage diabetes distress, e.g., psychological interventions, peer support, psychoeducation, technology.
Importantly, people living with diabetes played a key role in shaping the guideline, so it reflects real-world challenges. Learn more about guidelines development here [5].
ACBRD’s role
The guideline was co-led by Professor Jane Speight [6], ACBRD’s Foundation Director, and Professor Richard Holt [7] (University of Southampton, UK). The guideline aligns strongly with our research and advocacy. We are proud our work has helped shape this global standard and will continue to support health professionals to put it into practice.
The guideline is now available for consultation until 31 October 2025. We encourage people with diabetes, health professionals, policymakers, and organisations to engage with it.
Read the full media release [8] and access the guideline [2] to learn more.