Living with a complex, chronic health condition like type 1 diabetes (T1D) is complicated, expensive, and burdensome. Most people live long, happy, healthy, and satisfying lives with T1D, yet there is a large body of evidence that mental health concerns and behavioral challenges are common, and interfere with self-management, quality of life, and health. At the same time, there are not enough professionals who have knowledge of the complex interplays between diabetes and psychosocial factors to meet the needs of the large and growing population of people with T1D, and their families.
To help address this gap, the Type 1 Diabetes Mental Health Workbook was created to provide a concise, practical resource for mental health clinicians and therapists to use in their care of young people with T1D. The workbook is divided into eight sections:
Overview of T1D
Language and communication about T1D
Challenges associated with a new T1D diagnosis
Approaches to addressing T1D self-management challenges
Emotions associated with T1D
Mood concerns and T1D
T1D-related worries and anxiety
Additional considerations
Chapter 4: Approaches to Addressing T1D Self-Management Challenges Available to Purchase
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Published:2023
"Approaches to Addressing T1D Self-Management Challenges", Type 1 Diabetes Mental Health Workbook: A Practical Resource for Providing Behavioral and Mental Health Support to Young People with Type 1 Diabetes, and Their Families
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T1D management is too complex and demanding to be a “do-it-yourself” project. Youth from early childhood through young adulthood have improved medical and psychosocial outcomes when parents are consistently involved in T1D care in a positive and developmentally appropriate way.
Parental involvement in the child’s T1D care includes providing tangible, emotional, and logistical support related to living with and managing T1D. The needs for and specific roles of parents will change as the child grows and gains more self-management skills. Identifying members of the family’s T1D team is essential at all developmental stages of the child’s life (see the “T1D team” worksheet).
Throughout early childhood and into adolescence, parents evolve from being care providers who complete most of the daily T1D management tasks to managers who perform some T1D-related tasks (e.g., scheduling medical appointments, sick day management) directly while overseeing other T1D-related tasks (e.g., reviewing carbohydrate counting, double-checking insulin dosing) to coaches who provide support for the child’s completion of T1D-related tasks. To ensure that T1D management tasks are completed consistently across time, progression toward independence should happen in tandem with the child learning how to complete daily management tasks and gradually taking the lead on completing those tasks.
