Newsroom
RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. — RTI International (RTI), a nonprofit research and international development institute, has been selected by the World Diabetes Foundation to serve as their research partner for the development and evaluation of the Diabetes Compass in selected pilot countries. The Diabetes Compass initiative aims to improve the quality of diabetes care in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) by providing free digital and capacity building resources that address the challenges experienced by patients and health care providers in managing diabetes.
“The Diabetes Compass is an important initiative that will help fill a critical need for improved diabetes care in resource-limited countries,” said Angie Jackson-Morris, Ph.D., Senior Global Health Specialist at RTI’s Center for Global Noncommunicable Diseases (NCDs). “We are committed to applying our expertise in implementation science for NCDs to design digital solutions that will meet each country’s unique health needs.”
Nearly 350 million people in LMICs live with diabetes, and three quarters of this population do not receive adequate care. This gap is often related to healthcare practitioners lacking the resources and specific skills to prevent, diagnose, and treat diabetes. However, if diagnosed early, diabetes is manageable, highlighting the importance of providing tailored resources to health providers that can improve quality of care.
RTI will conduct an initial assessment of common challenges surrounding diabetes care in the three countries and develop a detailed understanding of the care context in each setting. This includes supporting the solution design and testing with stakeholders and establishing a rigorous process for evaluating the pilot phase of the Diabetes Compass, including measures to assess sustainability. In addition, RTI will facilitate stakeholder involvement across each phase of the research process, ranging from patients and practitioners to in-country NCD experts, ministries of health, and health organizations. RTI will also collaborate closely with the World Diabetes Foundation and Diabetes Compass partners. The Diabetes Compass will be global in scale but customizable to the specific needs of different populations and healthcare systems.
This work leverages the multidisciplinary technical expertise, research capacity, and programmatic experience of RTI’s Center for Global NCDs in preventing and managing the negative health, economic, and social impacts of NCDs in more than 40 countries around the world.
To learn more about RTI’s Center for Global NCDs, visit: https://www.rti.org/centers/rti-center-global-noncommunicable-diseases
