There are many diabetic resources with information for newly diagnosed diabetes patients and those already managing the disease. Your first resource should be your medical team. This group of highly trained individuals can give you the necessary personal advice and information to deal with such a complex disease. While many books, journals, and articles can give you general information and guidelines, ultimately your doctor will be able to translate what that information means to you. This becomes particularly important in the prescription and administration of medication and meal and exercise programs. In addition to your doctor you may opt to work with a diabetes educator, a specifically trained and certified individual who can help you with all aspects of diabetes self-management from glucose tests to counseling.
Diabetic Resources – Peer Groups
While your medical team is an important source of information, peer groups and forums are also rich resources. You can ask your doctor, hospital, or clinic to refer you to a local group that holds meetings allowing for face-to-face interaction, support, and community. There are several websites that have group finders in the U.S. and U.K. (http://diabetes.meetup.com/; http://www.diabetes.org.uk/How_we_help/Local_support_groups/Find-a-local-support-group/; http://www.defeatdiabetes.org/self_management/text.asp?id=diabetes_support_gro) as well as others that provide message boards and forums (http://www.dailystrength.org/c/Diabetes-Type-2/support-group; http://community.diabetes.org/?utm_source=Homepage&utm_medium=HeaderPromo3&utm_campaign=COMM; http://www.dlife.com/community/landing). Peer counseling and support can be an integral part of living with diabetes, helping to combat the often overwhelming amount of information while encouraging others in their lifestyle goals.
Diabetic Resources – Publications & Websites
Books and journals are good tools for people who are newly diagnosed and those who want to continue to learn about diabetes. Journals are more frequent publications allowing them to cover a greater range of topics, addressing trends, news, and research. Journals also have information about new diabetes products containing diabetes-related advertising. Books on diabetes tend to address a particular part of diabetes management and can be instructive or encyclopedic, varying from self-help to recipes. Books can be particularly helpful for those interested in homeopathy and alternative medicines. The American Diabetes Association has an online shop where they sell their own publications and others (http://www.shopdiabetes.org/Categories/8-Diabetes-Books.aspx). The Center for Disease Control has a website specifically on diabetes with basic information educational resources, books, publications, and news (http://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/). Included are links to government-funded programs with diabetes related goals, creating a directory by initiative and location, linking to their partner’s websites. The National Diabetes Education Program (NDEP) is a part of the CDC, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) and over 20 organizations. On it’s website are videos, podcasts, radio PSAs, fact sheets, articles, risk assessment, and more all focused on educating people on diabetes, and all available in Spanish (http://ndep.nih.gov/index.aspx).
