Q: How can we help and support children with diabetes?
Dr. Hoffmeister: One of the most important things is to teach the child to come to terms with the disease and how it affects their body. In other words, the idea here is to adapt diabetes to one’s life, not the other way around. The goal is to not let diabetes take over.
When faced with standardized medical protocols, during a session with a psychologist, the child can talk about their life, give an idea of what a day in their life looks like. For example, the school cafeteria is a place where children get the opportunity to socialize and interact with their peers. We want to have that lunch period be as normal as possible for the child with diabetes. In some schools, lunchtime becomes a challenge. So, not seeing any other solution, mom stops working so the child can come home to eat. These are the kinds of situations where efforts to make the child feel included have failed. They’re tough to deal with, all around. And so this is why we do all we can to keep things as normal as possible for these children.
Q: What would you say is the one initiative out there that’s giving young patients with T1D the most help and support?
Dr. Hoffmeister: AJD offers stays at Care Management and Rehabilitation (SSR) sites. For kids and teenagers with diabetes, these places are like summer camps where every aspect of treatment is taken care of.
There’s a medical team monitoring their disease and a team of counselors always on hand. It’s a time when children may very well bring up things that are on their mind. All in all, the children have a safe and welcoming environment where treatment is provided and they can feel free to open up and talk.
If a problem crops up, I’m always on call to jump online. And throughout the stay, the medical team is keeping in touch to discuss the child’s care.
AJD is also an interdisciplinary association. We regularly organize practice exchange groups that bring together health care professionals and families from all over France. In this way, we’re able to collaborate and come up with resources, such as information packets and kits – for the newly diagnosed, for those starting intensive insulin therapy, and so on. These resources take into account medical protocols related to diabetes. They’re also designed with family life in mind. And having this set of resources works toward standardizing treatments.
A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.