Diabetes Self Education & Managing Your Health Care Professional: who is driving this car?

We’ve had some discussion today around the topic of Research on our Facebook group. There were lots of different opinions. Some people want to know and learn and be in control: others want to be told what to do and want someone else to be responsible. I believe in being in charge of my own health.

What about you?

The discussion made me think about some of the links we provide from time to time about current Research. I decided to follow up on some personal research about myself. I took a questionnaire which aims to check our Emotional health and wellbeing around diabetes. It has been sitting in our Forums for some time, unloved & neglected. Diabetes Counselling Online had input into this questionnaire, which was developed under the NDSS initiative of the Australian Government.

The National Diabetes Services Scheme (NDSS) is an initiative of the Australian Federal Government. If you are not already registered with the NDSS, you can access the Registration form here  Registration is free for all Australians living with Diabetes and provides a range of free services.

Here is the questionnaire

It begins: “Many people with diabetes can feel weighed down with concerns about their health and wellbeing. If neglected, these feelings can end up affecting their quality of life and self-management of diabetes.

This website has been designed to help you to identify any problem areas you may have with the emotional aspects of diabetes, and to get help and information.

Using this website :

• There are 24 questions to complete. It will only take a few minutes and there are no right or wrong answers.
• When you finish the questions you will receive your results and be provided with feedback
• You can view online resources for more advice and information.
• You can print out the results to discuss with your health professional.

It was very easy to take, and it did give me things to think about in regards to how I actually feel about living with my own diabetes.

Here is my ‘results’ page:

“It is not always easy to manage diabetes. It can be unpredictable, frustrating; time consuming and at times overwhelming. Blood glucose levels can go up and down for no apparent reason despite your best efforts. People who don’t have diabetes don’t always understand the juggling act required to manage to always eat well, take tablets and insulin and constantly do blood glucose testing. Friends and family can be very supportive but sometimes their well meant advice is not always helpful and may unwittingly increase your stress.”

and

“It is common to feel annoyed, fed up and frustrated with your diabetes but if this results in you feeling that you can’t cope, you may need some help. Often a lot of energy is spent on looking after your physical health and although that is important, it is just as important to look after your emotional and mental health.”

Now that’s a pretty normal sort of statement for any organisation talking about managing diabetes, hey?

My Results report goes on:
“Be sure to scroll down for additional content. Your results indicate these areas may be a problem for you”
And then the actual issue that was revealed:
“Feelings about food”

No surprises there then. I did know I have issues around food. What Western woman over 30 doesn’t?

The issues are around guilt about taking pleasure in food, and guilt about weight, even when the weight is in normal range. What this questionnaire did for me was to highlight that basically I’m pretty OK about my diabetes, but I still get stressed about food & diabetes. It’s interesting because I know at the start of this journey I was very stressed about having to take medication. Now I know that the medication is helping me, and somehow I’m ok with it.

My other problem area is Exercise, and that didn’t show up in my results. So the questionnaire is not perfect, or doesn’t cover everything for me. But it is a great starting point.

I did do one other thing with this questionnaire. I went back and answered as though I was another person, using the kind of thinking that is often experienced by people with diabetes, the kind of thinking that various people have shared with me during counselling.

Among other interesting results, I got some very useful advice, which I want to pass on, regarding visits to the doctor.

“It is really important that you feel you are able to communicate effectively with your health professionals and that you develop a good relationship where you can discuss your goals for managing your blood glucose levels, weight and all other aspects of diabetes. Sometimes the health professional and the person with diabetes don’t have the same goals and this may cause confusion and frustration for everyone.”

“Your doctor needs to explain clearly what he/she considers the best treatment options for you; but equally you need to let your doctor know what you prefer and what is important to you. It can be difficult in a busy consultation telling the doctor everything you want him/her to know and asking all the questions you have.”

“These points might help:

• If you know you will need more time ask the receptionist to make a longer appointment
• Write your questions down so you don’t forget
• Ask lots of questions to clarify information the doctor gives you
• Ask the doctor to explain if you don’t understand.
• Tell the doctor what you think is realistic for you to do
• Bring a friend or family member to help you remember what has been discussed
• Ask for printed information”

“If you think your doctor or heath professional’s advice is not right for you, you can ask to be referred to another or ask for a second opinion. If you do not have a good relationship with your heath professional and you can’t see it becoming much better you can see a different one. You can ask to have all your medical records transferred to the new doctor or health professional”.

“Do you and your health care professional share the same goals? To help you to be clear about your goals so you can explain them to your diabetes health care professional.

Consider the following

• What changes are you prepared to make to your food and eating habits?
• How much physical activity are you prepared to do?
• Are you willing to take medication to control your blood glucose levels?
• Are you prepared to take tablets to control your cholesterol and/or blood pressure?
• How often are you prepared to check your blood glucose levels?
• What is a realistic HbA1c for you?
• How often do you want to see your diabetes health care professional?”

Further information is then available via live weblinks to various State Diabetes Associations.

It’s very much like being the driver of your own car, and this has been brought home to me by my elderly mother’s theory, who attributes all of her problems nearing the end of her life to her decision to give up her car.

You can read about ‘Taking Control’ elsewhere on our website, here.

This is a very comprehensive section and ends:
Most importantly, making decisions and taking control of your diabetes self management will put you in the centre of your management team. 

You may also be interested in reading this article about What keeps Australians living with diabetes awake at night.

Helen Wilde

Helen is a long term Senior Counsellor with Diabetes Counselling Online, Teacher, mother of a type 1 diabetic for 34 years and a type 2 diabetic herself for 12 years.

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