As explained previously, I don’t do new year’s resolutions for the simple reason that I never stick to them. I’m unable to do the whole SMART thing and make my goals actually attainable, and so after the shortest time (a day… an hour… minutes), have thrown in the towel.

However, I am not above making resolutions for others. Because that’s the sort of person I am. Caring and sharing. Or bossy. You decide.

Here are some New Year’s resolutions for HCPs working with people with diabetes to consider:

  • Use language that doesn’t stigmatise – both in front of PWD and away from us.
  • And while we’re talking words: use words we understand. We may know a lot about our health condition, but we don’t necessarily understand all the medical speak. If you are talking to us, check in to make sure we actually understand what you are saying to us.
  • Lose the judgement. We all judge; we do it subconsciously. Try not to.
  • Remember who is in charge. While as a HCP you may have a direction that you would like us to take, or our consultations to follow, that might not work for the person with diabetes. Our diabetes; Our rules. Learn the rules and stick to them. (Also, there are not really any rules, so don’t get shitty when we seem to have no idea what we’re doing.)
  • Remember this: no one wants to be unhealthy. Or rather, everyone wants to be the healthiest and best they can be. Use this as an underlying principle when meeting people with diabetes.
  • Sure, offer help with setting goals. We all like to work towards something. But setting the goal is actually the easy part. Help us work out the steps to get there. If someone comes to you and wants to lose weight or reduce their A1c, that’s awesome, but they are big asks. So, tiny steps, easily achievable mini-goals and rewards for getting there.
  • Acknowledge and celebrate victories. You know that person with diabetes sitting opposite you? For some, just getting there and being there is a huge achievement. Recognise that. Showing up with some data – in whatever format? That’s brilliant – so say so. Sure, it may only be three BGL readings from three different meters and all at different times, but that is a start.
  • Diabetes is rarely going to be the most important thing in someone’s life. Please don’t ever expect it to be.
  • Include us in every discussion about us – from letters to referring doctors or others in our healthcare team and when it comes to any results of bloody checks or scans. Make sure we have copies of these and understand what they all mean.
  • Please be realistic. If someone is currently not checking their glucose levels, don’t ask them to suddenly do six checks a day, analyse the data and send you pretty graphs. Small, attainable, reasonable goals. (Once, during a period of particularly brutal burnout when my meter was not seeing the light of day, my endo asked me to do two checks a week: Monday morning before breakfast and Wednesday morning before breakfast. That was it. Next time I went back to see them, I’d not missed a single one of those checks. And even managed to do a few others as well. I felt amazingly good for actually having managed to do what was suggested and eager to keep going from there.)
  • Ask us if we want to be pushed a little. Are we interested in new technologies to try, different meds to consider, a more aggressive treatment plan? Don’t assume you know the answer. Present us with the options and then help us decide if it’s something we want to try.
  • Equally, if we’re pushing you because we want something new or more intensive, help us get it, learn about it and support our decision to try it.
  • Do not dismiss peer networks and peer support. Offer it, direct us to it, encourage us to find it.
  • Be on our side. We need champions, not critics. We need people to cheer us on from the sidelines, go into bat for us when we need an advocate and take over the baton when we’ve done all we can (and shit yeah! – that’s three sports analogies in one dot point – I deserve a gold medal!)
  • Understand that diabetes does not start and end with our glucose levels. There is so much going on in our head and sometimes we need to be able to get that sorted before we can even begin to think about anything else. Get to know some diabetes-friendly psychologists, social workers and counsellors, and suggest we see them.
  • Please, please, please, when it is time for our appointment, do nothing but be there with us. Of course interruptions may happen, but do apologise and excuse yourself – and do everything possible to minimise them. Look at us, take notes on a piece of paper – not a computer, and listen to us.
  • Again…listen to us.
  • Explain to us why you feel we need to have something done. It could be as simple as asking us to step on the scales (which often is actually not simple, but fraught) or it could be asking us to have a scary-sounding and invasive procedure. Why are you suggesting this? Is this the only course of action?
  • Treat us like a person, not our faulty body part. And see all of us – not just our missing islet cells. Because really, if all you are seeing is those missing islet cells, you really are not seeing anything at all.