Helping Friends and Family Members with Diabetes

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Article Title:

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Helping Friends and Family Members with Diabetes

Article Description:

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It is not easy to learn that ayour close family member or your

best friends isare being diagnosed with diabetes. It is even

harder for those who are diagnosed with it to face the music.

Recognizing that e diabetes ias a disease without a unknown cure

might help you to understand the confusion and hardship your

loved ones have to go through.

Additional Article Information:

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996 Words; formatted to 65 Characters per Line

Distribution Date and Time: 2008-07-22 11:12:00

Written By: sen

Copyright: 2008

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Helping Friends and Family Members with Diabetes

Copyright © 2008 sen

Diabetic Help Guide

http://www.diabetichelpguide.com

It is not easy to learn that your close family member or friends

are being diagnosed with diabetes. It is even harder for those

who are diagnosed with it to face the music. Recognizing that

diabetes is a disease without a known cure might help you to

understand the confusion and hardship your loved ones have to go

through.

As a family member or a friend of diabetes patient, you’re

playing an important role here. Why? Firstly, in many studies, it

is proven that family dynamics play a stronger role than just the

presence of family members during group medical visits.

Therefore, you have to be proactive instead of merely showing

presence as a form ofyour support. In most cases, physicians will

assess family relationship patterns to find out the effects on

patients’ health before making recommendations on life-style

modification.

On the contrary, if a family relationship appears to be

difficult, it might become a stressor and depression a factor to

the patient. Not only does the physician haves to educate the

patient but the doctor should also spend time with the family

members to inform them about the negative communication and

life-style pattern that will complicate the patient’s health.

This can be time consuming and as a family member or friend, one

should be informed and be ready to put up with all kinds of

situations.

In most of the cases, after learning about the truth of our

diagnosed family member or friend, it is normal for us to be

sympathetic. However, do not be sympathetic for too long as this

can be used as a feeling or an excuse for you to let them be and

do whatever they love since life is short. As you read on, you

will find out there are many things that you can actually do to

help them instead of just being sympathetic.

Many of us have probably heard of diabetes without knowing what

exactly it is. Diabetes is a condition where the sugar (glucose)

level is abnormally high in the blood and it is caused by little

or insufficient insulin in the body. It is important to

understand the types of diabetes our family member or friend is

diagnosed with. The first type (Type I), occurs when the body

fails to produce any insulin. This is most often found in

children. Most of the patients are diagnosed with the second type

(Type II) - they do not produce insulin due to the damage of the

pancreas or the body is insulin-resistant.

Diabetes is a disease without cure and it has to be taken care of

every day with properright diet and medication. Uncontrolled

diabetes can cause one to suffer other health problems such as

blindness, nerve damage, and kidney failure, just to name a few.

When the situation is too stressful, the patient will fall into

depression. Some have undergone behavioral changes. If we really

want to help them, we need to put ourselves in their shoes to

understand why they are or are not taking the advice or

medication that doctors and physicians recommend. Empowerment,

knowledge, and support are often the key elements when helping

the patient.

People with diabetes have to make changes in their lives. In most

of the situations, they need courage and support. This is when

empowerment from family, friends, and even the doctors comes in

handy. Not only do patients have to learn how to monitor and

control their blood sugar level, we can serve as reminders and be

concerned about their daily diet especially when preparing meals

for them. Avoid buying foods that they are not supposed to eat,

such as trans fat and sugary food. Go for fresh food, vegetables,

whole grains, and fish. Not only will the patients’ health will

be taken care of, you will benefit from the healthy diet. Next,

implement healthy life-style changes. Regular exercises such as

walking, jogging, cycling, swimming and dancing are good for both

of you. However, encourage the patients to speak to the doctor to

find out the right kinds of exercise for their age, ability, and

current health.

Helping patients with diabetes is not an easy task, especially

when they are giving up on themselves. However, we have to

realizse that everyone has the potential and capacity for making

healthy behavior changes. Thus, instead of forcing them to accept

the truth, you may focus on helping them to explore their own

concerns, ideas and strategies to overcome the changes they are

going to face in their lives. As a support, you may also consider

to creatinge a rapport by frequently communicating with patients

to assess how they’re handling their lifestyle changes, diet, and

the stress that comes with the diabetes diagnosis.

The steps of changes in patients start with pre-contemplation

when they are not seriously considering any change or

contemplation when they are thinking about change. Even though

the situation may differ, the encouragement and support from

family members and friends must be consistent. When they are

ready to make changes, you have to be ready to prepare yourself

to accept the change. From an advisor or counselor, your role now

is more like a motivator who should constantly provide

inspiration and drive to the patients. During the process of

making the change, you have to be on the go. You can take your

action through daily diet and exercise. Get them to participate

in a healthy life style with you. The last step will be the most

difficult and challenging- to sustain and maintain. Once the

healthy lifestyle is implemented, here comes the maintenance

work. It is important to sustain behavior change and ensure it

becomes a lifestyle.

It takes time to learn to accept and live comfortably with

diabetes. As a family member or friend of a patient with

diabetes, you are the reminder, advisor, motivator, action-taker

and maintainer! Your constant support and attention might be the

best cure of all! Let them know they are not alone.

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sen has been writing articles about diabetes and health

care for over 10 years. He believes strongly that patients should

arm themselves with information and be their own best advocate in

their care. He finds http://www.diabetichelpguide.com to be a

valuable tool for diabetes patients, family, and friends.