Diabetes is a family
disease. It affects the lives of everyone who loves, lives, or cares for a person
with diabetes. People with the best family support tend to manage their diabetes
better and feel better about living with diabetes. Family involvement should
be considered throughout the course of the illness - from initial diagnosis through advanced disease and death. Families of diabetic individuals should be educated about diabetes, what must be done to achieve glycemic
control, and how their own behaviors affect the diabetic individual’s blood glucose control.
The therapist can help the diabetic patient learn
strategies for getting support from family, such as:
· The therapist
can encourage family members to get an education about diabetes care.
· The therapist
can teach diabetic patients to ask for support from family members in an assertive and sensitive manner.
· The therapist
can help family members clarify what areas of diabetes care they can be responsible for in order to help the diabetic patient.
· The therapist
can assist in identifying family behaviors that are helpful and others that hinder the patient’s diabetes self-care.
Family members have a significant impact on the
way a person with diabetes lives with his/her disease. With the addition of family
support, the diabetic patient can adapt to and accept the diagnosis of diabetes and their responsibility for self-care behaviors. The patient can take control of their life and not let diabetes control them
