The theme of the 4th RIN Symposium, which took place on May 10, 2023, at the German Diabetes Center (DDZ), was “Digitalization & Information in the Field of Diabetology”. RIN Diabetes e.V. organized the event, and Dr. Max Skorning, Head of the Public Health Authority of the State Capital Dusseldorf, addressed the attendees and stressed the special significance of digitalization in Diabetology. In his welcome speech, Professor Christian Herder, Deputy Director of the Institute for Clinical Diabetology at the German Diabetes Center (DDZ), stated that RIN Diabetes e.V. provides a central platform that brings together players in the field of diabetology and pools their expertise. The network gives the DDZ a strong partner to provide people with information on local care services.
Dr. Hansjörg Mühlen from Diabetologikum Duisburg and Chair of the Professional Association for Specialist Diabetology Practices in North-Rhine (BdSN) and PD Dr. Susanne Reger-Tan, Head of the Diabetes Center and Nutritional Medicine and the SmartDiabetesCare project at Essen University Hospital, held a lecture on new applications for digitalization in the medical practice and clinical settings and talked of the constant changes in the field of Diabetology. Both speakers stressed that, in the everyday medical setting, there were still many hurdles affecting the implementation of the constantly evolving diabetes technologies.
Subsequently, focusing on digital technologies, Professor Matthias Fank from the Institute of Information Science at Cologne University of Applied Sciences spoke about the information behavior of people with type 1 diabetes and their use of digital solutions. Towards the end of the event, Dr. Olaf Spörkel, chairperson of RIN Diabetes e.V and Head of the National Diabetes Information Center at the DDZ, explained how people with diabetes search for information via online media and highlighted the significance of the National Diabetes Information portal diabinfo.de in this context. The symposium ended with a plenary discussion on the current developments in (digital) diabetes care and questions about acceptance.
About RIN Diabetes e.V.:
The Regional Innovation Network (RIN) Diabetes e.V. (www.rin-diabetes.de) drives diabetes mellitus prevention and care at local and regional levels. Our members and other players from the relevant areas of science, care, business, patient representation, and public administration have developed and implemented innovative ideas since establishing the network at the German Diabetes Center in 2014. RIN primarily provides information, raises awareness, and seeks to improve diabetes prevention and care in the greater Dusseldorf metropolitan area. Transdisciplinary exchange is a key focus, e.g., via the Psychodiabetology Quality Circle and RIN Symposium.