If a family member has diabetes, what should you do?

When told by a doctor that they have diabetes, many people find it difficult to accept it mentally. At this time, family members play an important role in helping patients accept the diagnosis of diabetes. What should be done and what should be avoided?

Learn knowledge first

The first step to helping your family is to learn about diabetes yourself. As doctors, we continue to educate patients about diabetes, but it is often not as impactful as family members’ understanding of diabetes. Everyone should remember one thing: Diabetes is a long-term, evolving disease, but as long as it is managed well, you can still live a healthy life like normal people.

Pay attention to methods

When there is a diabetic patient in the family, life is bound to change, but the changes should be made little by little to allow the patient to gradually adapt to the life of diabetes, rather than making him feel that his life has changed drastically all of a sudden. This also includes speech and behavior. For example, if a family member is depressed, instead of telling "lies" such as "Don't be too nervous, you will be fine soon", it is better to ask him more directly, "Diabetes is a chronic disease. Take your time, what are you most worried about now?" For example, repeatedly nagging him to check his blood sugar and take medicine on time may actually arouse or aggravate his resistance. In the process of helping family members change their lifestyle, you may wish to set a series of small goals that are easy to achieve, which will make it easier for patients to motivate them to persist.

Help to grasp the "degree"

It's easy to feel isolated when you're the only one in the family trying to make a change. Therefore, the whole family should be mobilized, do exercises together, and choose healthy diet together. This will not only help the patient change his lifestyle, but also be beneficial to the health of the whole family. However, you should also pay attention to the scale of help. Don't expect to be able to provide patients with all-round help, but focus on what you can do, and leave other things to doctors or nutritionists.

The last thing to say is that to be a good caregiver, you need to take care of yourself first. If a family member has diabetes, not only the patient himself feels pressure, but the family members also face pressure. Therefore, as a family member, you also need to seek help, especially parents whose children have diabetes. Regularly communicate with other parents of children with diabetes to learn more about the problems and solutions they may encounter in life, and to encourage and help each other to face the future more calmly.