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PEER SUPPORT ps Peer support communities offer an outlet of support for the day-to-day challenges of managing diabetes. Through this focus on peer support, you will gain insight into this valuable tool and find ways to incorporate it into your practice. My Diabetes Support Group: Peer Support in DSMES: What Offering A Blanket of Goodness Peer Support Means for Your Program and Participants Magnolia Jackson Leslie Andrews, RN, BSN, MPA, CDCES I live with type 2 diabetes and have chosen to be a part of our Diabetes Coordinator at St. Vincent Charity Medical Center Sweet Life diabetes support group for the past 4 years. The support group has helped me realize that I am not alone on this journey. Mariellen DeSmit, RN, BSN, CDCES We come with a common shared focus, which helps me manage Diabetes Educator at St. Vincent Charity Medical Center the fear and realize I am not the only one with diabetes. Valuable friendships have developed over time, new relationships continue Peer support can address the overwhelming emotional demands to form, and we learn from each other’s lived experiences. There is of living with a chronic condition. We heard the frustrations and nothing like walking into a room full of people smiling at you, who challenges at our Wednesday morning group classes, but we genuinely care about you. You feel uplifted! also saw how people with diabetes helped each other by sharing At Sweet Life meetings, the speaker helps us build foundations strategies and insights from their own experiences. They voiced of knowledge and reinforce ways to help us manage our diabetes. a desire to continue learning from diabetes care and education The meetings have a purpose but are also fun. I always love the specialists and each other. So 7 years ago, we started Sweet Life, cooking demonstrations because you learn to cook differently our self-named support group. to make dishes healthier or to try something new. It is important Providing ongoing support is the final “S” in DSMES and one for people to see that we can eat real food and enjoy foods even of the National Standards for DSMES. “Ongoing support is defined though we have diabetes. The chair yoga and exercise speakers as resources which help the participant implement and sustain get me moving again, especially when I have fallen off my routine. the ongoing skills, knowledge, and behavior changes needed to I leave with handouts and tips to take the messages home. manage their condition.” The critical word is sustain. Diabetes During the meetings, there is always an invitation from our care and education specialists strive to provide knowledge and dedicated leaders to ask for help. It’s done with a smile or a pat on tools for individuals to manage their diabetes, but how do you the back to make you feel comfortable. We end our meetings with help them stay on track over time? Offering a support group can a meditation, poem, or prayer. This is a different kind of medicine. impact emotional health and improve self-care. It also reinforces Paying attention to the whole person has helped me stay calm educational concepts that can be difficult to understand and and relaxed through many stressful times in my life. The meetings internalize. touch on the physical, emotional, and spiritual ways that we The benefits of peer support can be seen in lower A1C, blood manage living with a chronic condition. pressure, and weight along with a more positive outlook on Sweet Life is my group. I feel 100% part of the group, which overall health. If you are thinking about starting a group or want to has allowed me to move forward and not feel sorry for myself. I reinvigorate your group, there are 3 things to keep in mind. am very grateful to be a part of such a dependable group that has 1. Underst and your population to ensure that you provide lasted over time. I call our group “a blanket of goodness.” culturally sensitive health information in a manner consistent with needs. 2. Engage the group with speakers outside the usual diabetes realm (ie, life coach, art therapy, or legal aid) while still being Community Spotlight relevant to physical, mental, and spiritual health. 3. Identify a day and time that works best for your group. We American Diabetes Association (ADA) Diabetes Support Directory moved from meeting in person 6 mornings a year to monthly Website URL: professional.diabetes.org/DSDirectory. virtual meetings. About half of our attendees connect virtually, What is it? The directory is a free online tool to help connect whereas the rest use the call-in option. communities to a qualified, ADA-approved diabetes support The benefits of peer support through the format of a diabetes program. The ADA’s Diabetes Support Initiative assures that support group offers individuals the chance to connect with others diabetes support program curriculua meet the ADA’s criteria who share a common bond and facilitates trust with the health for support programming, aligns with the Standards of Medical care system. For diabetes care and education specialists, it builds Care in Diabetes, and demonstrates significant positive health a stronger connection with clients and a link to continue to help outcomes. them manage their diabetes over time. It is truly a win-win! ADCES IN PRACTICE // January 2021 // 51
ADCES in Practice – SAGE
Published: Jan 1, 2021
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