A prescriptive approach to dietary management of type 2 diabetes in UK South Asian non-English speakers

There is evidence that South Asian people are less likely to follow a healthy diet than the general population. A retrospective audit reported positive dietetic outcomes in people with insulin-treated diabetes, but poorer outcomes for the sub-group of South Asian patients who did not speak English. The language barrier, alongside a preference for medical management of diabetes and the deep cultural significance of food in maintaining social relationships and tradition, was likely to have made integrating dietary self-management difficult. Five years on, the dietitian who performed the retrospective audit presents an evidence review and a case history that argue for a more prescriptive style of dietetic consultation, drawing on the “narrative model” to achieve positive dietetic outcomes for non-English speakers.