What might motivate teenage diabetics?

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sofaraway said:
I think that education is great but you have actually got to get people to go on these courses. Plenty of people don't want to spend that much time learning about diabetes. If you can't get people to turn up for a regular appointment then you aren't going to get them on a course.

I really wish i knew the answer to this,
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I did have a TA from school in Ipswich phone me up a few months ago asking for ideas about setting up a diabetes centre within the school. They were a few teenagers that they felt needed help and wanted advice how to get them interested. This is quite a good idea. It was to be done every Monday (lunchtimes i think) and it was a place they could come to and discuss anything they wanted, not even diabetes even, it was a chance for them to socialise and the hope was that they would get something out of it in the end. The TA would have posters and info for them to take away as well.

Pie in the sky moment - but if schools could offer this - a volunteer, like you or me, could go in when these centres where on. Just to chat etc.....
 
A buddy is certainly a good idea. C was the only one in primary school and she wanted to hide it from everyone. She didn't want to be different. When she went to secondary school there was another girl in the same year, although not in the same class. This girl was a huuuuuge help in C coming to terms with it a bit more. I obviously don't know what they were talking about, but C felt far more positive after getting to know her. I did tell C she didn't have to be friends with this girl just because she's diabetic, but as it turns out the girl is cool. Unfortunatley, she moved to Canada a while ago.

C at the moment attends a diabetes meeting once a month for 5 months for teenagers. It's called "Getting Sorted". There they "discuss" anything and everything about diabetes. We had to bribe her to go, but now she's thoroughly enjoying herself and wants to go again next year. The only downside is that she's found out that she could have 3 jelly babies for a hypo 😛. As she had been eating glucose tablets when not needed in the past, I didn't want her to know that fact.
 
What do the teens in here do or teens that were diagnosed in your teenage years, some of your tips and advice might come in handy???
 
Randomange you might be describing how I felt in my teens! 🙂 I think that's why some peer support might be such a good thing!

The letter to consultants sounds good too - maybe we could form some kind of national / regional database of volunteers??... I'd be up for it!

I hadn't even heard of Circle D until just recently - sounds good though! (too old alas...! 🙄) I do like the idea of a social network for diabetic teens - how to make it cool though?... :confused: I guess this might be where FB / twitter come in?... with a local meeting like the "getting sorted' sessions...

I think maybe we need to get DUK &/or JDRF to get on board with something - sorry if I'm getting carried away, but really itching to do something positive now!
 
Twitchy said:
Randomange you might be describing how I felt in my teens! 🙂 I think that's why some peer support might be such a good thing!

The letter to consultants sounds good too - maybe we could form some kind of national / regional database of volunteers??... I'd be up for it!

I hadn't even heard of Circle D until just recently - sounds good though! (too old alas...! 🙄) I do like the idea of a social network for diabetic teens - how to make it cool though?... :confused: I guess this might be where FB / twitter come in?... with a local meeting like the "getting sorted' sessions...

I think maybe we need to get DUK &/or JDRF to get on board with something - sorry if I'm getting carried away, but really itching to do something positive now!
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Twitchy, why don't you contact JDRF now whilst you are all fired up and see what they say, get a contact name and start chatting. I would start with JDRF as they are all about the children (plus you may or may not know what I think about DUK - the word pants springs to mind and they are not that child friendly although they are purporting to be).

Go for it, there is nothing stopping you.

🙂
 
Skim read an article in this month's Balance today about support strategies for diabetic teenagers...
 
I think doctors' attitudes HAVE to change. In my teens they were patronising at best. They did not offer any sort of support or education and did not notice when I wrote down fake blood sugars or skipped appointments. Well I tell a lie they did notice the skipped appts, but only to kick me out of the clinic at age 15 with no transition or other care of any kind. From what people are saying here (sorry missed the programme) it is even worse now with the doctors actually blaming the poor kids and accusing them of causing their own problems. Whether it is their fault or not is not the point. Placing blame never solved anything and if doctors are behaving like this then no wonder the teens are not responding to them well.
 
Alan/Becky

Mine arrived this morning, so I'd guess you'll get yours any time.

M
 
To novorapidboi I understand what you mean by broken home, etc I didn't mean to targetted at you, it's generally as some people do say children are better off with both parents, etc so I'm just saying some children can be happier with a single parent as long as s/he are involved with their children's diabetes.
I like the the idea of mentor/buddy too. Before I had Carly I was a support worker with social services taking deaf children out, one at a time like a role model so they don't feel alone or different from everyone so it's seem ideal 🙂
 
DAFNE (or similar), but with those who are of similar age.

Mentors seem good

Councellors

An angel to constantly be there (family member, friend etc)

Discussions/sessions with role models (e.g. celebrities)

Activity days/weekly meetings with other teenagers packed with fun activities.

But the most improtant thing of all is not to over burden an individual.
I hate being told what to do regarding my health and the pressures of being a teenager only increased this.
 
Agree with MIsmail about offering fun activities and not overburdening teenagers - they have to want to be helpe, and have plenty else to worry about.
A tip on a related issue - don't ask any 18 / 19 year olds in England / Wales / Northern Ireland about A level results today, nor GCSEs next Thursday - if they want to tell you, they will! I'm thinking about our lodger's daughter who took her GCSEs this year, but won't be hassling her.
 
Hello everyone...

I'm still trying to find the 'right' contact in the JDRF, but I do already have a friendly contact in my regional DUK office (from kicking off setting up a diabetic mums group!), so for a starter, I've sent her this:

"I guess you've probably seen The Hospital diabetes episode, or heard the furore after it... I'm a member of the diabetesSupport forum, and we have been scratching our heads to think about how teens might be encouraged to be more motivated. Those of us who have been through teen years as diabetics all agree that some kind of 'buddy / mentor' system would have been useful, as often the docs at clinic can come across as quite authoritarian & distant figures, difficult to relate to... We were thinking of something along the lines of a national database of volunteers, which consultants at children's / youth diabetic clinics could access. When a teen is diagnosed or a child with D reaches their teens, a suitable mentor / buddy could be selected and the teen put in contact with them... This would not be to replace the medical advice from clinics but to support it, provide a friendly face for emotional etc support & encouragement. Do you think that this idea is something that DUK could or would help with?"

Please don't shoot me if I've got the wrong end of the stick from people's replies! 😱 Maybe it's a bit of a start at least...
 
twitchy send it as a pm to Joe freeman a member of the forum who is from duk ...i think he works with all their on line stuff ..i will help you with any research you may need x
 
I hate to say this but if the teens don't want to know then nothing really is gonna make them change. You can't make something cool unless you are cool. The only thing that may work is to shock them with guys like the dude on dialysis etc and say that might be them. But some of them will just want those 10 years of fun till they are 26 etc because come on remember 10 years is to them two thirds of their life so to them a long time. Just think how you were when you were 15-16 and how indestructible you felt, blindness, amputation just will not concern them if it wont hit till they are 26 etc or even 30.

Sorry to scare any parents but only thing you can do is to make it a natural and normal thing to do. As far as I can remember because having an injection has just been the thing I did so I never really missed I've been pissed as a fart using old style needles at uni but I did it.

I like the idea of mentors is a good one but they need to be the right people what is needed is someone who the teen would look up to in their early to mid 20s who is a winner, they have the car, the friends, the life style but they also have diabetes but they don't let it stop them living life they go to the parties they have a drink etc.

The thing I have seen work is for this mentor to be someone they look up to I saw a program where this 15 year old kid who was into rugby league trained with this diabetic player. The kid never tested etc but when he saw the player do it and the player explained that better control makes him play better etc, the kid started too.

This is what we need but with most celebs who are managed management will see it as a weakness so will wanna keep it hidden. How many disabled pop/rock stars the only one I can think of is the one armed drummer from Def Leppard and on a diabetic front you have Bret Michaels from Poison.

One of my big radio heroes is John Peel and it wasn't till after his death that I found out he was a diabetic (type two I believe).

Marc
 
I agree Marc, very tough to get the right kind of person to mentor some of these kids - I suspect people who could take on the role successfully might might not exist in numbers to match the teens who need them. I do think though, that at least some of them would respond if they were better educated from the start about their diabetes - and their parents too! The featured kids just didn't seem to have a clue. :(

Didn't know JP was diabetic either. Slightly off topic, but I went for a run up Rivelin Valley in Sheffield the morning after the car crash that the drummer lost his arm in. I used to count the windscreens that I passed along that road, there were so many accidents along there. :(
 
Much as I love(d) listening to John Peel, both his music DJing and Home Truths, I don't think that a dead elderly type 2 would cut any ice with type 1 teenagers. Sorry to be brutally frank, but the wrong sort of mentors could do more harm than good. I agree that teens are probably most likely to listen to young adults (20s / 30s) who have interesting jobs, cars / motorbikes, cool friends, "significant others", do cool sports, go clubbing, travel on gap years etc. Of course, no-one achieves all that all the time, even without diabetes!
 
I never wanted to go to those DUK camps - the very thought terrified me! In the brochure there was a photo of loads of kids injecting together (I think thats what I imagined we would be doing all day!)

I think regular, like 2 weekly, meetings with their DSNs would help teenagers. I had very regular meetings when I started on MDI at 16 and my attitude got a lot better because of it.

Maybe giving them the coolest new pens and BMs would be a good incentive - although this would be very expensive!
 
As a bone idle teenage student I don't think much will motivate us. We don't really care. Been there done that and got the t shirt. Good consultants and DSN's are vital. Something like my SADIE course or a DAFNE and meeting others the same age. Scare stories don't work. Simple as.
 
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