Support for Parents and Families
Managing diabetes take a lot of work! Children, teens, parents and others do many tasks every day to make sure the person with diabetes is healthy and safe. Throughout your experience with diabetes, you may want to talk to others for support, encouragement, ideas and motivation to keep the plan going. This can help whether you are new to diabetes or have managed it for a long time.
Below are some ideas on where to find the support you need:
Family and friends
You may turn to people close to you for general support and encouragement or for specific help with the diabetes plan.
Other families or people also managing diabetes
JDRF family mentoring program – contact JDRF London (519-964-2850; london@jdrf.ca) – can link parents to parents and child/teen to other child/teen.
Diabetes Canada – has fundraising and social events in the community. They also run camp programs for various ages.
- I Challenge Diabetes – runs adventure based, peer to peer activities.
Team resources
There are a number of people available on the diabetes team. To access, see the team information on the website or in your diabetes education binder.
- Child Life Specialist
- Social Workers
- Art Therapists
- Child psychologist
- Community resources: Families link with a number of people in the community for support.
Children and Youth Mental Health Centres
There are a number of agencies that provide support to children, teens and families.
Crisis Intake Team (519-433-0334) – 24/7 phone support for children/teens/parents. Can direct families to the most appropriate agency to help.
Employee Assistance Program – if you have work benefits, you may have access to counselling services. Check with your benefits package for details.
