Celebrating talents of the type 1 diabetes community during covid-19 pandemic

ABSTRACT

Background: 'ArT1st' was created (11/2019) by Professor Kar, bringing 9 artistic people with type 1 diabetes (PWDs) and diabetes healthcare professionals (HCPs). The aim for ArT1st was to provide peer support within type 1 diabetes community via art, and to showcase the community's artistic talents through a live event in 2020. With covid-19 pandemic, lockdown became a time of anxiety and loneliness, affecting mental health. With the live ArT1st event postponed, to help uplift the mood and reduce social isolation, the ArT1st team created an online project for the type 1 diabetes community. Methods: • ArT1st email address and website created to receive/house contributions • Social media accounts created • Daily posts across social media -artistic contributions + summary about artist (diabetes journey/ community involvement, how art helped with diabetes/mental health/pandemic) Results: 167 contributions of music, fashion, photography, craft, poetry, dance, drama, painting received worldwide over 2/12 all ages, PWDs, HCPs, carers, professional/amateur artists. • Social media data Twitter-498 followers/447 tweets, Facebook-1358 friends, Instagram-365 followers/273 posts • Twitter activity 371.3k impressions over 77 days-average 4.8k impressions/day. Average-11 retweets/day, 38 likes/ day, 3 comments/day. Interest extended beyond community, highlighting issues PWD face daily. Many positive comments about uplifting mood, great support network. Friendships and art collaborations developed between PWDs, and between PWDs and HCPs. Conclusion: ArT1st is first of its kind as a form of peer support for the type 1 diabetes community and celebrating artistic talents. ArT1st promoted new online peer support & friendships for the community, through the power of art;and provided an innovative outlet during the pandemic.