Barbara Anderson PhD

Marisa Hilliard PhD

Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children’s Hospital

Houston, TX

Types of SupportEMOTIONAL 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

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

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.

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

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.

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

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?