ZonMw awarded a grant of €460.000 for a nationwide project in which people with diabetes who have a high risk of foot ulceration will be treated with a personalized integrated approach to help prevent these foot ulcers.
The approach consists of
- orthopaedic shoes plus house shoes whose pressure-reducing properties are optimized
- feedback on the measured in-shoe pressure and shoe use,
- at-home daily measurement of foot temperature at at-risk locations, to detect and eliminate early signs of ulceration, and
- education on proper self-care with motivational interviewing if necessary.
This approach will be compared to usual foot care for outcome of foot ulcer recurrence in 12 months time. With this modern and innovative personalized approach, we expect fewer foot ulcers and thus a better quality of life for people with diabetes and a cost benefit for healthcare.
Sicco Bus, Jaap van Netten and Tessa-Busch Westbroek (Amsterdam UMC, location AMC) coordinate this project, and collaborate with several hospitals (VUmc, Reinier de Graaf Delft and Maxima Medisch Centrum Veldhoven), orthopedic shoe companies (Livit, Wittepoel, Penders and Buchrnhornen), and organizations (Diabetes Association Netherlands and Dutch Association for Podiatry).