TLC by the Sea 2015

1. Barbara Anderson PhD
Marisa Hilliard PhD
Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children’s Hospital
Houston, TX

2. Types of Support
EMOTIONAL HANDS-ON
 Listening
 Normalizing your experience
 Laughing with you
 Crying with you
 Sharing your outrage
 Sitting with you quietly
 Offering a hand with a
specific need
 Taking something off your
plate, lightening your load
 Helping you solve a problem
 Advocating on your behalf

3. Who are your supports?
 Family members
 Spouse/partner
 Friends
 Roommates/Neighbors
 Sitters
 Teachers/Coaches
 Community members (clubs, church, etc.)
 Other T1D parents
 Online community
 Diabetes Care Team

4. You’re not alone.
 How can your supports help you?
 Asking for assistance with a specific diabetes task can
help direct well-meaning people to be supportive.
 What can each of your supports do to be helpful?
 Teachers can hold your child’s CGM receiver in class
 Friends/neighbors can learn emergency diabetes care
and check in on your child when you’re running late
from work.

5. Tell your supports what would be helpful.
 Calm, supportive
communication
 Acknowledge, praise
management behaviors
 A few reminders
 Involved in diabetes
discussions
 Problem-solving together
 Blame & Shame
 Angry communication
 Punishing out-of-range
numbers
 Nagging
 Denying fears/worries,
pretending everything is fine
HELPFUL NOT HELPFUL

6. Don’t hold back.
 Talk about your experiences to get support:
 Friends, family
 Diabetes online community
 Caregiver support organizations
 Diabetes care team
 Model for your child how to express feelings and
advocate for diabetes needs.

7. Take care of yourself and your family
 Prioritize fun activities as a family
 Protect diabetes, try to reduce conflict
about diabetes
 Find humor where you can
 Set aside some time for your own needs

8. What has worked for you?
 Where do you go for support?
 What have you asked from your support network?
 Who has been the most surprisingly helpful person?
What did they do?
 How do you take time for yourself and why?