Mrs Julie Seow, Diabetes Life Coach at TOUCH Diabetes Support (TDS), is a pioneer in the area of psychosocial emotional care and support for persons with diabetes. She and her husband started the first support group for people with Type 1 diabetes which laid the foundation for the set up of TDS with the support of a committed team of staff and volunteers in 1992.
Having lived with Type 1 diabetes for the past 33 years, Julie understands the struggles faced by persons with diabetes and works closely with her team to build a community of support for persons with diabetes through initiatives such as support groups, diabetes lifestyle counselling, educational talks and exercise programmes.
With her wealth of knowledge on living with diabetes, Julie was invited to contribute to a Workgroup formed by the Ministry of Health to review the Clinical Practice Guidelines in 2014. Julie successfully advocated for Psychosocial Care for persons with diabetes to be included in the revised Clinical Practice Guidelines for doctors so that people living with diabetes can look forward to a more holistic care and support from their doctors. She was also appointed by the Ministry of Health as a member of the Public Education And Stakeholder Engagement Workgroup under the government’s War Against Diabetes Prevention and Care Taskforce in 2016.
For her work and commitment to better the lives of people with diabetes through community support, Julie received the Superstar Award (ILTC Administration Category) from Guest-of-Honour, Mr Chee Hong Tat, Minister of State for the Ministry of Communications and Information and Ministry of Health at the Singapore Health Quality Service Awards 2017, organised by the SingHealth Duke-NUS Academic Medical Centre. The Singapore Health Quality Service Award was founded in 2011 and is Singapore’s first dedicated platform to honour healthcare professionals who have delivered quality care and excellent service to patients.