Ali Shahmir H, Bhattacharya Sudip, Chanda Abhijit, Dhar Biswadeep
Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health, National University of Singapore, Singapore.
Department of Community and Family Medicine, All India Institute of Medical Sciences Deoghar (AIIMS Deoghar), Deoghar, Jharkhand, India.
Lancet Reg Health Southeast Asia. 2025 May 26;38:100607. doi: 10.1016/j.lansea.2025.100607. eCollection 2025 Jul.
Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is an escalating concern in South Asia, with prevalence surging over the past two decades. Family members often significantly influence T2D outcomes and management, yet involvement remains informal, unstructured, and unrecognized within healthcare systems. This viewpoint calls for a more structured, equitable approach to family engagement in T2D care, outlining three models (family-supported, family-wide, and family-led) that can optimize the role of family in T2D care. Given the diversity of household structures, interventions must be adaptable to varying family dynamics. While family involvement can enhance care, challenges such as cultural barriers, gender and age disparities, and inconsistent healthcare guidance must be addressed. Providers need training and clear protocols to engage families, while policies must ensure that caregivers are equipped with adequate support. Digital tools, including social media and telemedicine, offer promising ways to enhance family support in T2D management. Ultimately, South Asia must move beyond reliance on informal care to system-integrated family engagement that recognizes and empowers those often at the frontlines of care.
2型糖尿病（T2D）在南亚地区日益受到关注，其患病率在过去二十年中急剧上升。家庭成员通常会对T2D的治疗结果和管理产生重大影响，但这种参与在医疗系统中仍然是非正式、无组织且未得到认可的。本文观点呼吁采取更具结构性、公平性的方法，让家庭参与到T2D护理中，并概述了三种模式（家庭支持模式、全家庭模式和家庭主导模式），这些模式可以优化家庭在T2D护理中的作用。鉴于家庭结构的多样性，干预措施必须适应不同的家庭动态。虽然家庭参与可以改善护理，但文化障碍、性别和年龄差异以及不一致的医疗指导等挑战必须得到解决。医疗服务提供者需要接受培训并遵循明确的方案来让家庭参与进来，而政策必须确保照顾者能够获得足够的支持。包括社交媒体和远程医疗在内的数字工具为加强家庭在T2D管理中的支持提供了有前景的途径。最终，南亚地区必须超越对非正式护理的依赖，转向系统整合的家庭参与模式，认可并赋权那些常常处于护理一线的人员。
