It is often not easy for people with diabetes to find information about relevant offerings and services in their vicinity. The Regional Innovation Network (RIN) Diabetes aims to close this gap and offers people with diabetes, family members, and other interested individuals a diabetes guide. This free information brochure gives the target group a quick and easy overview of offerings, contacts and addresses in the greater Düsseldorf area. In addition to the brochure, RIN Diabetes also provides an online version (www.rin-diabetes.de/wegweiser).

Around one million people with type 2 diabetes currently live in North Rhine-Westphalia. In addition, the number of unreported cases is high. According to calculations by scientists at the German Diabetes Center (DDZ), the number of people affected will continue to rise. For many years, the National Diabetes Information Center with its offerings at the DDZ has been an important point of contact for people with diabetes and other interested individuals.

The information brochure Wegweiser Diabetes, published jointly with the City of Düsseldorf on World Diabetes Day on  November 14,  2018 provides a practical and important orientation guide for diabetes services. "More than 200 prevention, counselling and care offerings from diabetologists, exercise and nutrition providers, self-help groups and other partners are clearly presented in this brochure," said Dr. Olaf Spörkel, head of RIN Diabetes. In addition, the brochure contains important, concise information on the diagnosis, treatment/therapy of diabetes as well as an overview of the extensive range of concomitant and secondary diseases. The brochure is available free of charge at the DDZ, the health office of the state capital Düsseldorf and from a large number of RIN Diabetes partners. Alternatively, it is possible to request a personal copy at kontakt(at)rin-diabetes.de.

In addition to the brochure, RIN Diabetes provides the option of finding relevant offerings and services in the greater Düsseldorf area on the Internet with the online guide (in German) (www.rin-diabetes.de/wegweiser). By means of an interactive search interface with a map of the surrounding area and filter functions – by search term, type of service and language – a total of more than 200 relevant prevention, consultation and care offerings can be conveniently accessed via mobile phone or computer.

The RIN Diabetes project was initiated in 2014 at the  German Diabetes Center as an inter- and transdisciplinary network. Currently, more than 60 partners are involved in the project, including diabetologists, self-help groups, health insurance companies, pharmacies, associations, companies from industry and research, hospitals and offices. The aim of all partners is to reduce the number of people suffering from diabetes in Düsseldorf and the surrounding area, to inform them about new research approaches and treatment options for the disease and to reduce the number of diabetes-related late complications such as nerve and organ damage. In addition, preventive projects in the field of child and youth work and in the business environment create an awareness for a balanced diet and sufficient exercise in everyday life.

RIN Diabetes is funded by the state of North Rhine-Westphalia until 2020. In 2016, the project received the "Place of Progress" award. Further information is available at: http://rin-diabetes.de

The German Diabetes Center (DDZ) serves as the German reference center for diabetes. Its objective is to contribute to the improvement of prevention, early detection, diagnosis and treatment of diabetes mellitus. At the same time, the research center aims at improving the epidemiological data situation in Germany. The DDZ coordinates the multicenter German Diabetes Study and is a point of contact for all players in the health sector. In addition, it prepares scientific information on diabetes mellitus and makes it available to the public. The DDZ is part of the Leibniz Association (Wissenschaftsgemeinschaft Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, WGL) and is a partner of the German Center for Diabetes Research (DZD e.V.).

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