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World Diabetes Day
Today is World Diabetes Day, a day to raise awareness of the impact all types of diabetes has on those that live with the conditions.
This year the theme is diabetes and wellbeing. We know that millions of people with diabetes face daily challenges managing their condition at home, work, socially and at school. You must be resilient, organised, and make over 180 decisions a day that impacts both physical and mental well-being.
At The Rio Tinto Children's Diabetes Centre and the Diabetes Service at PCH, we've always worked hard to advance T1D care and support for those living with diabetes and their families. This World Diabetes Day we are shining a light on some of our research projects that align with this year's wellbeing theme.
Community Forum recording
We recently hosted a 'Supporting Families' Community Forum with special guest Maggie Dent. Maggie delivered practical advice to help parents build their teen’s resilience and cope with anxiety while living with T1D. Our leading diabetes and mental health researchers also shared updates on the impactful work underway to support families navigating life with T1D. If you couldn't attend, you can watch the recording below.
The Wellbeing project
Embrace and the Rio Tinto Children’s Diabetes Centre staff are working on The Wellbeing Project, a mental health intervention for young people who have experienced medical trauma. The intervention hopes to boost diabetes resilience and lower the impact of diabetes stress in teens living with type 1 diabetes. Recruitment for this project will begin in early 2025. For more information, please email the team at wellbeing-project@thekids.org.au.
Take PART resources
Earlier this year, we launched the take PART resources (Physical Activity Resources for Type 1) with the help of sport stars including West Coast Eagles player Jamie Cripps and former Perth Wildcats champion Shawn Redhage, along with the T1D community. The first-of-its-kind resources were co-designed with youth living with T1D, parents and coaches to help coaches better understand the condition and to encourage youth living with T1D to stay active.
Talking about T1D
Adolescents living with T1D often have to make tricky decisions about sharing their diagnosis with others such as deciding who to tell, what to share, and how to say it. A new research study aims to develop our understanding of how adolescents navigate these disclosure decisions, and how we can support them to feel more confident talking to others about their diabetes. For more info or to express interest in participating, please contact the team at keely.bebbington@thekids.org.au.
Diabetes and Wellbeing
In the lead up to World Diabetes Day, we asked the PCH social work team for some tips to help your child/teen thrive. Here are some of their tips:
- make sure you share diabetes management tasks with your child or young person (depending on their age and stage)
- check in to see how they are doing with all the diabetes daily tasks
- give attention to things other than diabetes - ask about something other than diabetes eg. “how was your day at school today”, “did you enjoy seeing your friends at the shops, what did you all talk about”, “any updates on the NBA results”
- talk to your diabetes team and if you need ask them to talk to your child on their own to see how they can help.
Most importantly, talk with your child, ask them how they are feeling, share with them and reassure them at they are not alone.
