In the last few decades optimal control has become a well-established research area. The degree of blood glucose control, especially in diabetes mellitus type 2, is linked with the risk of developing complications such as heart disease, stroke, renal failure, and blindness. Patients’ knowledge about diabetes mellitus and their self-management skills, together with lifestyle choices, are central to achieving glycemic control. According to the World Health Organization, health literacy is defined as “the personal characteristics and social resources needed for individuals and communities to access, understand, appraise and use information and services to make decisions about health” known to be associated with health outcomes, including those in patients with diabetes. In patients with type 2 diabetes, inadequate health literacy is independently associated with worse glycemic control, higher rates of retinopathy, and lower self-rated health. Inadequate health literacy may contribute to the disproportionate burden of diabetes-related problems among disadvantaged populations. More research is needed to both understand this association and explore potential interventions to improve diabetes health outcomes and quality of life.

We invite authors to submit original research as well as review articles that describe qualitative and quantitative research results (including observational studies and trials) to help inform diabetes treatment and prevention planning for patients, clinicians, and health policy decision-makers.

Potential topics include but are not limited to the following:

• Health literacy and lifestyle, as relates to diabetes, which can include studies exploring behavior change and motivation; mechanisms, moderators, and mediators of change; and interventions to promote healthy lifestyles with respect to diabetes
• Self-care and self-management which can include health promotion aspects of diabetes care; health literacy; and role of family, peer support, and other care-givers in relation to people with diabetes and work exploring social networks and distributed health literacy
• Health systems navigation and management—role of health literacy in accessing optimal engagement with health services for people with diabetes