Connected Care

Talk Diabetes with Steve

Practical, evidence-informed guides on diabetes technology — from AID systems and CGM setup to infusion sets, apps, and travelling with your kit. Built from lived experience by a certified diabetes care and education specialist who is also a parent of a child with type 1 diabetes.

About Steven Zortman

Steven Zortman MPH RN CDCES — diabetes educator, father of a child with T1D, and host of Talk Diabetes with Steve

Steven Zortman MPH | RN | CDCES
T1D. Father of a child with T1D. Educator. Advocate.
Host of Talk Diabetes with Steve.

Steven’s story

When Steven’s daughter Riley was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, life changed in an instant. The hospital room became a whirlwind of fear, sleeplessness, and unfamiliar information. He and his wife felt overwhelmed, exhausted, and scared.

Everything shifted when their diabetes educator walked in. She brought clarity, steadiness, and compassion. She met them where they were, answered questions they did not yet know how to form, and made the impossible feel manageable.

“I am going to become a diabetes educator.”

It was not a career decision. It was a calling. Steven committed himself to supporting families through the same journey: early screening, prevention, technology adoption, and the minute-to-minute realities of life with type 1 diabetes.

As both a father to Hannah, Riley, and Andrew, and as someone living with type 1 diabetes himself, Steven understands the emotional and physiological weight of every high, every low, and every moment of uncertainty. His work is personal, lived, and grounded in the compassion first shown to his own family.

Steven Zortman with his family — three children including Riley who lives with type 1 diabetes

Every class Steven teaches, every person he counsels, every moment he shares is done in honour of the educator who changed everything for his family — and in solidarity with every family navigating this condition.

Steven Zortman and GNL

Steven’s Connected Care resources sit alongside the wider work of The Glucose Never Lies — a project built to make type 1 diabetes clearer, safer, and easier to navigate. Together, these resources complement the evidence-informed guides across the GNL platform, blending scientific rigour with lived experience.

Explore freely. Share widely. No one does this alone.

Important note on currency

Diabetes technology changes fast. Device settings, algorithms, compatible apps, and regulatory approvals may shift after publication. These guides are educational tools, not substitutes for manufacturer instructions or clinical guidance. Always confirm key decisions with your care team.

1. Pump, CGM and app overviews

A single-page comparison of major AID systems and their linked CGMs and apps — targets, minimum fills, TDD requirements, weight limits, and simulator options in one place.

Download the Insulin Pump, CGM and App Guide (PDF)

More in this section

2. Automated insulin delivery systems

A focused summary of how SmartAdjust works: prediction horizon, micro-bolus logic, adaptive basal, targets, Activity Mode, and transitions between Manual and Automated modes.

Download the Omnipod 5 SmartAdjust overview (PDF)

More in this section

3. Sites, sets and travel

A cross-manufacturer overview of infusion sets for Tandem, Medtronic, Omnipod, iLet, and twiist — cannula type, insertion angle, tubing length, and recommended change frequency.

Download the Infusion Set Guide (PDF)

More in this section

4. Apps, carb counting and next-gen displays

A concise comparison of key carb-counting and nutrition apps — MyFitnessPal, Calorie King, Figwee, Carb Manager, and Fooducate — with notes on databases, logging, and tracking features.

Download the Carb Counting Apps guide (PDF)

More in this section

  • Next-Gen Glucose Monitoring — Sugar Pixel, Glowcose, Sugar Dash, and Glucose Projector: devices that mirror CGM data around the home for quiet, continuous visibility

Connect with Steven

The wider GNL resource library

Steven’s Connected Care guides sit alongside the broader GNL platform. Together they blend scientific rigour with the lived realities of diabetes.

GNL type 1 diabetes guides

Foundations, insulin, nutrition, exercise, insulin resistance, sick-day rules, and more.

Browse all GNL guides

Automated insulin delivery

Algorithm behaviour, settings, limitations, and practical real-world use across all major AID systems.

Explore the AID guide

Continuous glucose monitoring

System comparisons, accuracy, regulation, display issues, and troubleshooting.

Explore the CGM guide

GNL podcast

Deep dives with world-leading experts and lived-experience voices shaping the future of diabetes care.

Listen to the GNL podcast

Explore freely. Share widely. No one does this alone.