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Nandini Desai - Edmonton, AB
After her mother suffered through complications from type 2 diabetes, Nandini Desai’s life changed. She watched her mother struggle with understanding and managing the disease, and knew she had to do something.
“At that time, there didn’t seem to be much information about diabetes available for South Asians,” she says. “There was a real need for education and support in our community.”
It was after her mother’s death in 2001 that Nandini began working with the Association to create a committee to raise awareness and improve resources in the South Asian community. She then became a Certified Diabetes Educator, which she incorporated into her work as a pharmacist.
Being able to educate South Asian patients in their native language is a skill that Nandini has become known for - many visitors from around the world travel to her to learn about diabetes.
“I know that from the work I do someone out there will benefit and not have to suffer like my mother,” Nandini says, “The Clinical Practice Guidelines of 2003 identified South Asians as a high risk group for diabetes. The guidelines that existed when my mother was diagnosed did not have that information.”
Nandini continues her work with the Association and also acts as a mentor on diabetes awareness and management for pharmacy and medical students. Bringing diabetes awareness and education sessions to the temples is an additional way Nandini has reached out to the South Asian community. She is currently employed as a pharmacist by the Leduc Beaumont and Devon Primary Care Network multi-disciplinary team. She addresses individual issues with all aspects of diabetes management in her daily practice.
Nandini’s plans for the future are to continue to work with all patients with diabetes and to especially with the South Asian women. “There continues to be denial about diabetes, mixed in with misconceptions and cultural traditions,” she says. “There are better tools and ways of managing diabetes now than there were in the past. People don’t need to be afraid to face their diagnosis of diabetes head on.”
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