Part 12 of 12
This will conclude the blogs in this
series. One factor in diabetes management that is often overlooked
by people helping others and especially certified diabetes educators
(CDEs) is the proper assessment of the person you are trying to help.
Most CDEs omit this altogether or if speaking to a group will only
assess to the lowest common denominator. When I wrote this blog, it
was done with a little tongue-in-cheek, but does fit this discussion.
We, as people with type 2 diabetes, are
often better equipped to relate to other people with type 2 diabetes.
No, we do not have the training that the CDEs have, but we have our
experience to rely on and are not afraid to ask questions. We are
finding out that some in our support group and a few that have left
want secrecy. Those of us that have been in the group since the
beginning, have no time for this and we want people to help us and
for us to be able to help others. This is one reason that most of us
are happy to have Brenda as part of our group and the rest respect
her.
We are attempting to help the new
members and this has turned into a challenge for those of us that
have been with the group for the longest. Even Sue's husband, Bob,
is asking why they are not listening to us and trying to manage
diabetes and their health more effectively.
In some email exchanges, we are asking
ourselves what we are doing wrong. Are we missing some clues? Do we
not understand what they are feeling? We are all trying to reassess
them and figure out why we are being ignored. We have a good feeling
about some of them and we are concerned about the rest. We are
thankful for Jerry and James as they are listening and learning.
Even James's wife Jill has become a great support for him and another
of our new members.
We are dividing the older members into
groups of three to approach those that are not as open about their
diabetes to see what we can do to help them. Barry, Ben, and Allen
are asking to work with those that are veterans and we have agreed,
but will help if needed. Allen has agreed to let Brenda take his
place for the three women veterans. Sue and her husband Bob will work with
the other two women with Jason.
Tim and I are available to anyone
needing help and will support other members that feel the need. We
are not sure where this is going, but all have stated that we must
find out those that want secrecy and those that are willing to learn.
We have decided to take our time and assess and reassess to help us
find a common basis for an open dialogue and overcome the secrecy
within the group.
Tim did receive one phone call after we
started, telling Tim he would not stay in the group and some of the
questions we were asking were none of our business. He did listen to
Tim when he explained that we are a caring support group and may be
taking some things too far, but we don't believe we are being nosy.
The fellow said he did not feel we were being nosy, he just did not
feel we needed to know the information. Tim did let him go with the
understanding that if he could accept us in the future, we would be
willing to reconsider him for membership again.
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