One Day At A Time

: Advocating For Your Diabetes Needs; Diabetes is expensive. The costs of diabetes-related therapies, drugs, and accoutrements keep many people from taking care of themselves as well as they could. Getting these expensive medications, and the devices to deliver them such as insulin pumps and insulin pens, along with blood glucose monitoring equipment such as meters, strips, and continues glucose monitor systems, can be a test of one’s ability to advocate for themselves, even with health insurance coverage. In this article, we provide some experience-driven tips to guide people living with diabetes on how they can advocate for themselves before and after visiting with their healthcare provider., diabetes, management, technology, insurance

: Day-to-Day Diabetes; Living with a condition like diabetes can be all-encompassing. Too easily, we can get lost in the day-to-day practicalities of our diabetes tasks. Our devices need attention, out-of-range glucose levels need to be fixed, medical appointments need to be made and kept, prescriptions need to be filled, and consumables need to be restocked. But I’ve found that remembering that diabetes is only one part of the puzzle that makes me whole, and giving the other pieces attention, leads to me feeling happier, more rounded, and more at peace., diabetes, management

: Socioeconomic Status and the Domestic Allocation of Type 1 Diabetes Care; Objective: Few studies explore how socioeconomic status (SES) influences the allocation of type 1 diabetes (T1D) care within households. This study used survey research to better understand the perspectives and experiences of maternal caregivers who have adolescents with T1D.Research Design and Methods: Survey research with open-ended sections was conducted with women who live with another adult partner and had full custody of an adolescent 12-19 with T1D. Demographic information included age, gender, race-ethnicity, martial status, education level, occupation, and household income. Disease duration and youth HbA1c levels were also captured.Results: Forty-six caregivers completed surveys. Care allocation, diabetes strain, and parenting strategies were compared by income categories and exhibited variation accordingly. Women from households with income <$40,000, classified as low socio-economic status or less affluent, tended to report sharing diabetes-related responsibilities equally with partners; tended to hold full-time, low-wage positions; and noted stress associated with inflexible jobs and financial concerns. Women from households with incomes $80,000 or higher, classified as high socioeconomic status or more affluent, more commonly described primary caregiving, professional status changes, and difficulty transferring control to their teens.Conclusion: These findings indicate significant, yet varying, strain for women from different SES thresholds that deserves further attention. For female caregivers of adolescents with T1D, the unequal distribution of labor associated with care-related demands may contribute to outcomes like depression, anxiety, and familial conflict. Providers should be acutely aware of the toll that care-related demands may take on women and have information readily available on support groups and mental health services., caregivers, adolescents, maternal, diabetes, management, treatment, socioeconomic

: Identifying Factors Associated with Participation in T1D Support Program for Young Adults; Objective: Type 1 diabetes (T1D) has been shown to have a significant and stressful impact on an individual's transition into young adulthood. Young adults are often experiencing new levels of independence and decision-making at this time. Insufficient research has been conducted on the use and impact of T1D support programs tailored to young adults in relation to the emotional impacts of the disease, access to programming, and desired outcomes of programs. This study assesses awareness, utilization, and emotional needs of T1D support programs tailored to young adults.Research Design and Methods: A cross-sectional analysis was performed on surveys collected through specific groups on Facebook (n=529). Logistic regression was used to assess factors associated with participation in T1D support programs.Results: Approximately 41% of participants had been involved in a program or activity for young adults. The average age was 24 (range 18-30) with females being overrepresented (85%). Individuals who attended a T1D support program for young adults were more likely to disagree that their T1D: keeps them from having a normal life; feel their T1D controls their life; or feel their T1D takes up too much mental/physical energy. Individuals who attended T1D support programs for young adults were more likely to disagree that they: need more peer-to-peer support with T1D.Conclusions: The findings highlight the importance for T1D support programs for young adults and the unique needs of a population with T1D. T1D support programs should be considered in combination with clinical support for better preparing individuals to transition into young adulthood., diabetes, support programs, adolescents, management

: Learning to Trust Diabetes Technology; For many years, I didn’t embrace the technological advancements that were helping so many. It took meeting some of my fellow peers with diabetes at the Students With Diabetes conference in 2011 who used insulin pumps and continuous glucose monitors to realize the impact that this technology could have on my life. At work and school, I can go about my normal business thanks to these pieces of technology. They are more than just tools to help me survive. They are a part of me and have become essential to helping with my day-to-day aspect of living with diabetes., diabetes, management, technology

: Liberty of Open Access; I’m incredibly proud of the work we’ve done for people living with diabetes through The PLAID Journal so far. In 5 issues, we’ve published 22 research and review articles related to people living with diabetes, and 22 editorials from our readers detailing the ins and outs of daily life with a chronic disease. We’ve also published 7 pieces called “Moving Forward,” aimed at providing insights and ideas to make the future brighter, for people with diabetes and others.Through taking a chance on The PLAID Journal and allowing us the opportunity to share their work, researchers, physicians, and healthcare professionals working in the field of diabetes have broken through the traditional publishing cost barriers to share their work directly with people living with diabetes. In this issue of The PLAID Journal, we continue to show the world that people living with diabetes and people working with diabetes can benefit greatly by reading the same information. Working together will improve our understanding of the impacts of chronic conditions on all of the parties who contribute to living well with diabetes., diabetes, open access

: Management of Depression in Adolescents with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus; Over the past 30 years, the incidence of type 2 diabetes mellitus continues to rise in the pediatric and adolescent population. The increased rates of depression in children with type 1 diabetes have long been established in literature. However, the association of type 2 diabetes and depression has only recently been acknowledged. The purpose of this article is to review the current literature to examine the incidence of depression and type 2 diabetes in adolescents and to suggest protocols for caring for these patients., diabetes, management, depression, adolescents

: More Than a Number; By the time I was fourteen I had been living with diabetes for five years, and in those five years I had learned one thing: I was a number. My blood glucose number determined if I got a lecture or praise from the only doctor I had ever truly known. My weight number determined the response I would receive from my nutritionist, with her judgement of me as a number coming out as facial expressions of disapproval, making me feel like that number was more important than the journey I had taken to get to it. Five of the most formative years of my life taught me that I was nothing but a number, and in every case, the lower, the better.At 12 years old I refused to eat a bagel because I was terrified it would make me go blind. I couldn’t trust food, I couldn’t trust my diabetes, and the resulting fear pervaded and led to either not eating carbohydrates at all – severe restriction – or eating all the carbohydrates – severe binging. It’s no wonder that women with type 1 diabetes are 2.4 times more likely to develop an eating disorder than their peers without diabetes.We need to change our diabetes education, from diagnosis and beyond, to encourage us to think and talk about diabetes control and measurement with a focus on more than just the numbers. We need to actively and aggressively consider quality of life, our personal goals, and the collection of intangibles that makes us a person with diabetes, rather than just diabetes itself., diabetes, eating disorders, management

: Parenting with Type 1 Diabetes; Objective: The present study examines the relationship between parenting self-efficacy, social support in parenting tasks, and parenting-related stress for parents with and without type 1 diabetes (T1D).Research Design and Methods: Parents with and without T1D completed self-report measures addressing demographic, parenting (e.g., parental stress, support, and self-efficacy), and diabetes-related variables. One-way ANOVAs examined the effect of parent T1D diagnosis on parent demographic and parenting-related data. In addition, regression analyses examined main and interactive effects of parent T1D diagnosis and perceived parenting support in accounting for parenting stress.Results: Parents with a T1D diagnosis self-reported more parenting-related stress than parents without a T1D diagnosis. In addition, for parents with T1D, parenting stress was significantly positively correlated with parent age at diagnosis and significantly negatively correlated with most recent HbA1c, parenting self-agency, and perceived parenting support; however, among parents without a T1D diagnosis, the relationship between parenting stress and support was null. A regression analysis examining main and interactive effects of parent T1D diagnosis and perceived parenting support on parenting stress was significant, yielding a significant two-way interaction.Conclusions: Results suggest that parents with T1D may experience more parenting-related stress than parents without a chronic illness. Furthermore, higher levels of social support are associated with lower levels of parenting stress for this group of parents with T1D. Thus, results underscore the importance of parenting support for parents with T1D and further emphasize the importance of continued research in the area of parenting with T1D., diabetes, stress, parenting, support, management

: Survival Tools and Adapting to Diabetes; When my son was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at the age of four, I quickly realized there were going to be many variables in managing his diabetes on a daily basis that were completely out of my control, awareness, and sometimes even understanding. Keeping up has not always been easy. As the years go by, the tools that we use to help us manage diabetes continuously change and update. New technologies come to market. New inventions are introduced. New ways of thinking are encouraged as we both grow up with diabetes now., diabetes, management, technology

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One Day At A Time