Diabetes self-management amid COVID-19 pandemic

COVID-19 pandemic has challenged the physician-centered approach of diabetes care in India that is primarily based on routine clinic visits. We aim to review the various aspects of patient-centered care via diabetes self-management education based on available literature. This is a narrative review using Pubmed, EMBASE and Google Scholar search till March 29, 2020. Search terms were “COVID-19”, “diabetes self-care”, “diabetes self-management education”, “DSME”, “diabetes self-management in India”, “diabetes self-care in India” and “DSME in India”. We have discussed an educational plan on diabetes self-management that can be adopted for people with diabetes mellitus in our country amid the ongoing pandemic. We have also identified the barriers to diabetes self-management in the current scenario and suggested possible solutions to overcome those. We have reemphasized the need for a simultaneous patient-centered approach in routine diabetes care that has to be coordinated by a multidisciplinary team amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. •Simultaneous patient-centered approach via diabetes self-management education (DSME) is essential in routine diabetes care.•During pandemic, DSME should focus on diet, exercise, medication adherence, hypoglycemia prevention and healthy coping.•Multidisciplinary team based DSME system can overcome the current barriers amid COVID-19 pandemic.