Diabetes represents a global disease that preoccupies millions of individuals worldwide. Just in Europe, there are about 60 million people suffering from diabetes, which is strikingly around 8% of the European population. Many patients struggling with the condition also risk developing various complications. A very common one is the so-called Diabetic Foot Syndrome (DFS), which is closely linked to the use of inappropriate footwear. Therefore, it is important that the relevant implicated stakeholders, such as footwear designers and technicians, shop assistants, healthcare workers, caregivers, patients and their families have the necessary knowledge and skills to produce appropriate footwear, advice and assist diabetic patients.
This is the objective of the Erasmus+ DiaSHOE project, which partners recently met in Elda, Alicante in INESCOP - Footwear Technology Centre, partner of the consortium, to further progress on developing a response to the need of knowledge and skills on the problematic of diabetic foot control and its relation with appropriate footwear. The project aims to address the VET educational needs for footwear designers and technicians, as well as to consequentially reach and benefit a wide range of stakeholders and interested groups connected to diabetic foot control. The expected outcomes will be three digital educational packages in 7 languages (Czech, German, English, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian and Spanish) and intend to support footwear manufacturers, patients, healthcare workers, and shoe-store clerks, among many others.
The first packages will facilitate footwear designers and technicians with knowledge on the diabetic foot and on manufacturing strategies that respond to the needs of diabetic patients, allowing them to use fashionable footwear suited for their special needs. For health technicians and shoe-shop staff, the specific material will advise and help them with the medical prescription of the most adequate footwear for diabetic foot control regarding each patient’s requirements. Last but not least, a selfcaring digital educational package will also be delivered for patients, their families, teachers/educators and all supportive education personnel who are in continuous contact with them.
During the meeting, partners agreed to launch soon the first pilot exercise that targets footwear designers and technicians. If interested, you can follow-up the open call when ready on https://diashoeproject.eu/ , on the LinkedIn and Facebook accounts and joint the free piloting opportunity, combining digital contents available on online platform, online and offline webinars and practical workshops. Even if you haven’t followed our project yet, it’s still time to join the piloting!
Once launched, the piloting will be running in all countries of the consortium upon a simple registration to be completed. Your feedback in the piloting will be extremely important to adjust and improve training contents, making the learning experience even closer to the needs and requests of the abovementioned target groups.
With the diabetic patients’ best interest in mind, the DiaSHOE project will continue improving the knowledge and skills necessary in educational curricula for diabetic foot control and will, thus, facilitate the production of diabetes-friendly footwear.
Press release
C.E.C.
Brussels 22 April 2022