Recently, Dr. Calvin Ke, a clinician-scientist from the University of Toronto’s Department of Medicine and a Diabetes Action Canada Researcher, has been focusing his work on improving diabetes care in Ontario overall, and in particular for those who are diagnosed with type 2 diabetes (T2D) before the age of 40.

This particular group, who have young-onset T2D, are at a greater risk of developing complications, requiring additional services and needing longer and more frequent hospitalizations. Ke and his team are looking at how to improve the care pathway for these people with diabetes to ensure they are living healthier lives.

To do this, the team is looking to Hong Kong and a project that is already showing success. In Ke’s recent publication, Team-Based Diabetes Care in Ontario and Hong Kong: A Comparative Review (published in Current Diabetes Reports), he was able to look at how the province could take some of the ideas already being used in Hong Kong to improve care in Canada. Looking deeply at both systems, he saw a great deal of opportunity for meaningful change to happen.

“At Ontario’s Diabetes Education Centres, diabetes educators provide expert guidance to help people learn how to manage their diabetes. As more and more people are diagnosed with diabetes, we must ensure that these Centres are equipped to meet the changing needs of our diverse population. We can learn valuable lessons by comparing how diabetes care is provided in different countries,” he says. “Hong Kong’s innovative model was developed by Professor Juliana Chan at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. This model weaves diabetes education into a multicomponent program that greatly improved health outcomes while reducing costs. We have a tremendous opportunity to strengthen our Diabetes Education Centres by adapting these innovations to provide better and more personalized care, especially for those with young-onset type 2 diabetes.”

Currently, Ke is working on several projects aimed at incorporating these concepts into ways to improve practice. He was recently awarded a Catalyst Grant from the Novo Nordisk Network for Healthy Populations at the University of Toronto to work on personalized care pathways for those with young-onset T2D in Ontario’s Peel Region. In this project and the others he is involved in he sees a vital role for patient partnership.

“Patient Partners have an enormous role to play at every step of our research. Patient Partners share their lived experience to help researchers understand the current needs and gaps in diabetes care. In this manner, Patient Partners work collaboratively with researchers to ensure that interventions are adapted in an appropriate way that responds to the community’s needs and bridges existing gaps,” he says.

You can learn more about the work of Ke on his website and in this recent profile by the Banting & Best Diabetes Centre at the University of Toronto.  

Story written by Krista Lamb