June 27, 2025
At EMPOWER, we believe everyone deserves access to high-quality diabetes education, regardless of language or background. We’ve been running Urdu-language courses in Lancashire for several years and last year we partnered with the IMO (Inspire Motivate Overcome) charity to help promote these sessions to South Asian communities across Lancashire and South Cumbria.
Why language and culture matter
Many people living in East Lancashire have Pakistani heritage and speak Urdu as their first language. This is significant because people of South Asian descent are up to six times more likely to develop type 2 diabetes compared to the general population (Diabetes.co.uk).
Language barriers often prevent individuals from accessing diabetes support. To address this, we developed a multilingual version of our proven EMPOWER programme – originally adapted for Hindi, Gujarati and Urdu speakers in Leicestershire – which we have continued to improve and tailor for Urdu-speaking communities in Lancashire.
Building trust with support from IMO
In November 2024, we delivered two face-to-face Urdu EMPOWER courses at local venues in Lancashire with 18 patients attending, promoted through IMO’s community networks. Two more video courses were also completed in February 2025, with referrals now coming directly from GPs. Our Urdu-speaking admin team supports patients throughout the booking process, making the experience welcoming and accessible.
Members of IMO charity with the educator and clinical lead who ran the session.
Tailoring education to the community
Our Urdu courses go beyond translation. We embed cultural and religious considerations throughout the sessions – from guidance on fasting during Ramadan to practical tips on enjoying traditional dishes more healthily.
Here’s what Saraj, an IMO project manager, shared after attending a session at a mosque in Burnley:
“I found your training very interesting, engaging throughout and all the key learning material put across in a very competent & professional manner.
One of my objectives for wanting to observe the training was to learn how cultural & faith related issues were embedded in the training with regards to diet/fasting, favourite foods of the south Asian community and how this was near impossible to get people to abstain from. Happy to feedback that I felt you tackled this in an excellent manner by providing alternatives and reassuring delegates you were not asking them to stop eating these foods, but just to reduce them.
Overall, I found your teaching style excellent, depth on subject matter great, and loved the regular personal references to each delegate to ensure learning was specific to them & their engagement levels were maintained.”
Expanding impact across Lancashire
With our contract to deliver EMPOWER across Lancashire and South Cumbria, we are scaling access to diabetes education that’s linguistically and culturally inclusive. Our partnership with IMO ensures we’re reaching the communities that need support the most.
If you work with Urdu-speaking patients or would like to collaborate on courses in other languages, just get in touch – we’d love to hear from you.
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