Inclusive by Design: Co-designing Accessible Solutions for Medicines and Medical Devices for People with Diabetes and Visual Impairment

About the Project

People with diabetes and visual impairment (PwDVI) face disproportionate and preventable risks in the safe and effective management of their condition and other co‑morbidities. These risks include errors in medicine identification and dosing, difficulty navigating and using diabetes‑related devices, and reliance on others for routine care tasks. The Safety Gap report described this as a “systematic safety shortfall” arising from inaccessible information and poor design (Patient Safety Commissioner, 2025). Despite the legislative framework provided by the Equality Act 2010 and the NHS Accessible Information Standard, many people still do not receive medicines and devices in formats they can independently and safely use.

This studentship addresses the gap between policy commitments and practice realities by generating co‑designed, evidence‑based, and scalable solutions. The proposed work will produce robust evidence on the challenges experienced by PwDVI and will co‑design interventions that improve the accessibility and safety of medicines and medical devices.

Objectives

1. Identify and analyse the specific challenges associated with medicines and medical devices experienced by PwDVI.
2. Adopt a multi‑stakeholder approach to define and prioritize the medicine and device‑related challenges experienced by PwDVI.
3. Co‑design practical, accessible solutions for selected medicine and device‑related challenges experienced by PwDVI.