05/11/2025

EMPATHY — A DAY WITH DIABETES EMBRACES SPORT

Empathy is an approach that continues to guide our daily work at Personalive: putting ourselves in other people’s shoes is at the core of how we design innovation, content, and services. After bringing empathy into the world of work with the first edition of the project, this year we want to take a step further and bring it into the world of sport.

With Empathy, A Day with Diabetes, created together with Diabete Italia and with the unconditional support of Roche Italia, we aim to help people understand what it truly means to live every day with diabetes through the universal values of sport: commitment, collaboration, prevention, and inclusion.

The project develops along two main lines: on one side, promoting the inclusion of people with type 1 diabetes in sports environments by helping coaches, parents, and managers better understand both the practical and emotional aspects; on the other, fostering the prevention of type 2 diabetes by raising awareness of the importance of healthy lifestyles, proper nutrition, and physical activity.

In 2024, involving over 1,500 people among employees, managers, and citizens, Empathy: A Day with Diabetes brought the topic of diabetes into companies for the first time, encouraging a deep reflection on inclusion and well-being within organizational contexts.

This year, we want to continue that journey, taking Empathy from the workplace to the playing field. The chosen sports partner for this edition is Vero Volley, an organization that shares our vision of a responsible and participatory culture. Together, we will carry out a series of webinars, training sessions, and Empathy Days where coaches, parents, collaborators, sponsors, and fans will experience, for one day, what it’s like to live with diabetes, performing blood glucose tests and reflecting on the deeper meaning of inclusion.

Pre- and post-experience surveys will also be administered to collect emotions, perceptions, and awareness developed throughout the day. The results will help build an evidence base to measure the project’s impact and inspire new awareness initiatives.

As in previous years, the 2025 edition is supported by a multichannel communication campaign that connects sport, health, and social responsibility.

The official website: www.empatiadiabete.org remains the main hub and reference point for the project. Here, visitors can review the 2024 results and discover the updates for 2025, access useful content to manage diabetes, and find tips to improve daily well-being. Among the available materials are menus and recipes created with a dietitian, demonstrating that “eating healthy” can also mean “eating well and with pleasure”, as well as guidelines for coaches on how to best support children and teenagers with diabetes during sports activities.

The website is designed to accompany people over time, a continuous source of information, testimonies, and practical advice. Visitors can also register for upcoming events, view survey results, and read the experiences of those who have already taken part in the Empathy Days.

The project’s message will continue to be amplified through social media:

• Diabete Italia on Instagram and Facebook

• Personalive on LinkedIn

• Vero Volley on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn

The campaign will also receive editorial coverage in media outlets focused on sport, health, and marketing, with the involvement of media partner Volley News, and will be visible in arenas during Vero Volley’s men’s and women’s Serie A1 matches through LEDs, video walls, and informational materials distributed to the audience.

The project will culminate with the “True Love” match on February 15, 2026, at the Opiquad Arena in Monza, a symbolic event where inclusion and prevention will take center stage both on and off the court. During the evening, the official Empathy T-shirts, a tangible symbol of participation and inclusion, will be presented.

With the 2025 edition, we aim to continue building a participatory movement capable of bringing together different contexts around a shared goal: to understand and act with empathy.

The intention is to progressively expand the project, from companies to sports and eventually to schools, to promote a widespread culture of prevention, listening, and mutual respect. Sport, with its unifying power, becomes this year’s playing field for spreading this awareness, turning a message of health and inclusion into something tangible, starting from one simple act: putting yourself in someone else’s shoes.

To learn more or apply to participate: https://www.empatiadiabete.org/iscrizione-edizione-2025