Endocrine Abstracts

Managing diabetes as a chronic health condition is never ending and many young people, especially teenagers, would like a ‘day off’. Managing diabetes alongside the normal rigours of adolescence means that the struggle with independence and acceptance of responsibility can have a knock-on impact upon how well patients engage in clinic appointments and their overall diabetes care. This in turn impacts upon parents; who may over- or under-compensate to address this, but inadvertently reinforce the young person’s fear of having too much or too little independence, and therefore contribute to them feeling overwhelmed and so avoidant of taking responsibility: a vicious cycle.

For diabetes health care professionals, the struggle to engage patients (and families) in taking responsibility to manage diabetes well, is a constant pressure. We feel responsible for ensuring the long-term health of the young people we work with, yet struggle despite our best efforts to achieve this for all. Our teams are subject to the need to evidence our success, and have the constant threat of financial sanctions if this isn’t achieved. In the NHS climate, where ‘more for less’ is a mantra, teams can feel overwhelmed and often understaffed. It is no wonder that health care professionals can feel ‘burnt-out’ and question their skills and abilities to achieve the best for their patients.

Emotional resilience refers to the ability to cope and adapt to stressful situations. This is a skill that can be learnt: self-awareness via Mindfulness practice, tolerance of difficult emotions, setting realistic expectations, empowering responsibility taking through problem-solving skills development, and being focussed upon values-based actions are key to this. ‘Practicing what we preach’, we can instil these skills in the patients and families we work with towards a more optimistic future with diabetes.