Type 2 diabetes is a rampant chronic illness in Bermuda — but a campaign launched today by the Bermuda Diabetes Association emphasises the “positive and empowering“ message of taking charge of your own health.

Called “Live Your Best Life”, the programme includes free testing and screening, with a digital campaign to “educate and inspire the diabetes community“, the association said.

It coincides with the start of November as Diabetes Awareness Month, with an invitation to the community to “know your risk, know your response”.

Lori Rockhead, the executive director of the Bermuda Diabetes Association, said “Live Your Best Life is intended to let people know that regardless of where they are, whether they are prediabetic, have diabetes or have complications from diabetes, that we support them.

“It’s intended to help make people feel positive and valued. Often diabetes as a diagnosis can be overwhelming. We want to empower them to take control of their health and feel like they can meet any challenges.”

She added: “As an association, we’re about providing excellence, whether it’s education on latest health practices or to help people with diabetes.

“From a personal perspective, it can be very difficult to motivate people who already feel that sense of being overwhelmed or perhaps disenfranchised because they have diabetes.”

Type 2 diabetes is driven primarily by lifestyle factors such as diet, but Ms Rockhead emphasised that it was also “a disease like any other disease — we want to treat them as people first”.

“Too often people see it, if not as the end, as something that leads towards the end. We want people to take care, do the self-management and live healthy lives with positive health outcomes.

“If you’re overwhelmed, facing changes in your diet, you can end up feeling like it’s a weight you’re unable to bear.

“These are all things people experience. We want them to feel we’re here to help them across a spectrum of care.”

The association, headquartered at 22 Princess Street in Hamilton, aims to educate the community about the prevalence of diabetes and its precursor, prediabetes, by inviting the community to learn about the symptoms and risks.

Similar to other chronic illnesses such as hypertension, diabetes can start insidiously.

Throughout November, the BDA is offering free tests by appointment via its website for the public to get the HBA1C test, which checks the level of glucose in red blood cells and can diagnose diabetes or prediabetes.

Early detection and intervention is aimed at ultimately reducing the number of people developing type 2 diabetes.

The association said it had taken a “cinematic” approach to a campaign of television, radio and digital advertisements.

Kenitta Perry, a diabetes patient from the age of 16, came forward as the face of the campaign to promote the positive side of living with the condition.

Ms Perry’s story, shown in a brief film available online, will be highlighted this month in The Royal Gazette.

Sara Bosch De Noya, a diabetes educator with more than 30 years of experience in the field, said the association sought to “remove the blame and shame and stigma” that came with type 2 diabetes.

Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease and not lifestyle-related.

“What we know now with type 2 is it’s possible to reverse,” Ms Bosch De Noya said. “Not a huge number have achieved remission and can come off medication, but it gives a message of hope.”

Even the language surrounding the disease has changed, she added.

“Instead of referring to ‘a diabetic’, they are ‘a person with diabetes’.”

In cases where people fall into self-blame and “feel they brought it on themselves”, she said a better message was: “It’s not your fault.”

Diabetes is better seen as a complex health issue with a genetic component.

According to the association, the Ministry of Health states that 13 per cent of Bermuda’s adults have had a diagnosis of diabetes, with many unaware of the illness for years before their diagnosis, and many more classed as prediabetic.

Focusing on prevention through risk assessment and getting tested early is a key part of the campaign.

World Diabetes Day on November 14 comes with an open house at the association’s headquarters from 10am to 2pm, with free health screenings.

Michael Lean, a professor at the University of Glasgow with a focus on nutrition and diabetes, has been invited to address Bermuda’s healthcare professionals on November 16 about diabetes and its potential for remission.

On November 14, the association has a free concert open to all at Holy Trinity Church in Hamilton Parish, with Mr Lean on fiddle joined by Patsy Seddon, a harpist and musician in residence at Edinburgh University’s school of Scottish studies.

They will be joined by members of the Bermuda Folk Club and Bermuda School of Music, with a short presentation on diabetes to follow.