Contents:
- Medical Video: Treating Low Blood Sugar
- What is done by the health team?
- Doctor
- Certified diabetes educator
- Nutritionists
- Mental health expert
Medical Video: Treating Low Blood Sugar
When your child has diabetes, a lot needs to be learned by you and your child, but you don't have to do it alone. Your child's diabetes health care team can help.
Treating diabetes requires many experts in different fields of health, such as doctors, certified diabetes educators, nutritionists, and mental health professionals.
What is done by the health team?
The diabetes health team will guide the family regarding diabetes. They will also help families make and implement child care plans, which are also called diabetes control plans.
The health team will adjust the dosage of insulin and other diabetes medications, make a list of healthy foods, and make recommendations for physical activities that can help control blood sugar levels.
They must pay attention to your child's schedule, abilities, tastes, lifestyle, and growth and development needs. The team will also help overcome the challenges for parents with children with chronic diseases and help your child overcome their own challenges.
Remember that you and your child are leaders of the diabetes health care team - all team activities are centered on helping you and your child control diabetes. In many cases, the roles and responsibilities of team members overlap. You must feel comfortable communicating with all team members because you will often get in touch with them.
Who are the members of this health team?
Doctor
A pediatric endocrinologist is a doctor who specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of children with diseases of the endocrine system, such as diabetes and growth disorders. But pediatricians, family doctors, and other medical doctors can also treat children with diabetes and manage their health care needs.
It's important to realize that visiting a specialist such as a pediatric endocrinologist does not replace your child's need to continue to get general health care from a pediatrician or other primary care doctor.
You and your child should feel comfortable with the doctor you choose because your child's diabetes control plan is based on the treatment prescribed by the doctor. Ask a few questions and make sure you understand the answer.
The doctor will ask detailed questions about what your child feels and his readiness to do a physical examination. They will also teach you and your child about diabetes and, with recommendations from all team members, make a diabetes management plan.
In addition to monitoring your child for complications of diabetes and other medical conditions that can occur with diabetes, the doctor will make changes to the insulin schedule and write prescriptions for medicines and referrals to other specialists as needed.
Certified diabetes educator
Certified diabetes educators are sisters, nutritionists, social workers, doctors, or pharmacists who help people control diabetes. Certified diabetes educators provide special training to teach parents and children.
Certified diabetes educators will:
- Explain what diabetes is and how it affects the body
- Teach you and your child how to give insulin injections or use an insulin pump
- Explain how to deal with high and low blood sugar levels
- Demonstrate ways to adjust medication during exercise and when sick
- Demonstrate ways to test blood sugar levels, use a blood glucose meter, and test the accuracy of blood sugar monitoring equipment used at home
- Review the goals of managing diabetes with you
- Discuss challenges that you and your child might face.
Nutritionists
Registered nutritionists are experts in food and nutrition planning. They know about food and its effects on the body and blood sugar levels. As your child grows and develops, there are so many eating plans that you can talk about with a nutritionist.
Nutritionists will record your child's growth and recommend the right amount of calories needed every day. Nutritionists will also:
- Make adjustments to meal plans based on sports, holidays, special events, and other activities
- Providing snacks and recipe ideas
- Teach you and your child how to make healthy food choices
- Helps you and your child learn carbohydrate counting and food planning techniques
- Teach you to read food labels and develop strategies to determine carbohydrate content from food when food labels are not available
Mental health expert
A mental health professional is usually a social worker or psychologist (but sometimes a psychiatrist or counselor), can provide a lot of help to the family in dealing with diabetes.
Psychiatrists can help parents monitor problems at home, work, or school. They can also see how diabetes affects the whole family, and help you find ways to improve your child's diabetes control.
Social workers can help you find support for families who are facing diabetes. They can suggest ways for families to get the necessary diabetes equipment and help them deal with insurance and financial problems.
Psychologists and psychiatrists can use behavior modification techniques to help children if they have difficulty controlling their diabetes, feeling angry or sad, or not taking responsibility for diabetes care. Psychiatrists can also prescribe medications for emotional problems related to diabetes, such as depression.
Depending on where you live and the type of diabetes facility you are visiting (whether it is a special diabetes clinic or pediatrician's office), you might find all your team members in one place. Or you might visit several different offices for diabetes care. If you do not have access to health to a dietitian or psychiatrist but want to consult, ask for a referral from a doctor.
Everyone on this team is important in controlling your child's diabetes. Ensuring they all know your child's diabetes care plan will make your child's care well directed.
