Learn about what really matters to people living with diabetes around the world.
Insights, Stories & Perspectives
The #dedoc° blog features articles and opinion pieces written by our international network of diabetes advocates: the #dedoc° voices. From scientific conferences to the latest diabetes research and technology, from challenges faced by those living with diabetes to global disparities in healthcare, our #dedoc° voices cover it all.
Diabetes advocates wishing to contribute to the #dedoc° blog are welcome to submit a guest post using the link below.
Don’t hesitate to get in touch — we love to hear from you, and so do thousands of others!
All opinions are those of the authors.
Contact: blog@dedoc.org
It Takes a Village: From Writing Lessons to Diabetes Self-Management
Drawing on nearly two decades of experience teaching academic writing and her lived experience with type 1 diabetes, Linda Smith-Brecheisen explores an unexpected question: What can dissertation writing teach us about diabetes self-management? Adapted from her presentation at the 2026 Conference on College Composition and Communication (CCCC), this thought-provoking piece argues that the same principles that help graduate writers succeed—incremental daily practice, SMART goals, peer accountability, and communities of practice—can also help people with diabetes build sustainable self-management habits. Bridging medical rhetoric, writing pedagogy, and diabetes advocacy, Linda offers a fresh perspective on how education can reshape the way we support people living with chronic conditions.
Technology, peer support and recognition: a crazy journey through ATTD 2025
A deeply personal reflection on living with type 1 diabetes across nearly four decades and across unequal realities. From a teenage diagnosis in Brazil to attending one of the world’s leading diabetes technology congresses through a #dedocº scholarship, this piece explores resilience, access gaps, advocacy, and the power of community. It is a story about frustration turned into action, about being seen and heard, and about why lived experience, peer support, and collective advocacy matter just as much as innovation itself.