"Diabetes uniquely requires patients be experts in their own care and demands 24/7/365 vigilance. Close communication with a health care team eases the burden and improves outcomes.

Glucose management revolves around numbers. Unfortunately, numbers are just noise unless translated into actions. Innovations, such as color for people with low numeracy, are essential for improving outcomes. Alarmingly, 80 million, fully one-fourth of our population, have low literacy and numeracy.

People want to better care for themselves; they just need to be shown how. With a diabetes self-management tool in the palms of their hands, people can use colors to engage and more effectively care for their diabetes.

Society also benefits if health care disparities lessen. When access to care is more equitable, people with diabetes should increasingly see those indicators move from red to green."

Elizabeth Holt is an endocrinologist.

She shares her story and discusses her KevinMD article, "If we better manage diabetes, can we better manage COVID?"

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