There will be a number of people interested in this work, either because they will be influenced by the work, deliver it or have a stake in what happens. It is useful to think this through as part of the planning process and decide how to keep them engaged and/or informed. The following is a list of key stakeholders in diabetes care (you will have others and not all of these will be relevant to your project):
- diabetes network members
- clinical staff in diabetes
- staff in other parts of the organisation or in partner organisations
- executive team
- key senior staff
- local people living with diabetes
- Diabetes UK local voluntary group
- local LINk or Healthwatch organisation.
Communicate verbally and/or with written updates. Information can be included in organisational e-news bulletins or other media. It may be useful to update the local diabetes network, or other relevant decision-making body, on a regular basis. Most importantly, the people who need to know should always get to hear about the work at the right time.
If a senior member of staff is involved with the users, they can play an important role as a communication link between the user group and other parts of the organisation by raising awareness about what is being achieved.