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Q1. Is the diabetes community is lacking support offline?
To me to degrees yes it is lacking support offline, but even online some of the support is lacking since most seem to be type 1 aimed over type 2, many seem to still have the idea that if you are type 2 that you brought it on yourself, that if you where not over weight or if you had taken better care of yourself you’d never have developed it to start with.
Q2. There are a lot of hospital based diabetes support grps. Have you attended one? what was your experience like?
My local hospital only has a type 1 support group, there are no such support groups for type 2 never mind those who are Type 2 as well as highly insulin resistant.
Q2.5 Do you think Endocrinologist/HCP should be required to have support groups for diabetic patients? Why or why not?
I do think that there should be support groups yes, but I do not think that it is up to the endocrinologist to be required to spencer them. I think hospitals also have a part in having groups that are supportive of all who are diabetic not just those who are type 1, but those who are type 2, those who are IR, etc.
Q3. What are the key elements in a diabetes support group?
I can’t really say since I’ve never been part of such a support group, online even I can’t say because I don’t feel the support overly so since most who it does seem are really active within the diabetic community are type 1 not type 2, so trying to get a grip and talk about what it is to be type 2 gets over shadowed at times it does feel by those who are type 1.
Q3.5 do you think T-1 and T-2 support groups should be separate? Why or why not?
Yes, because my own experience is that for as much as we are together the challenges faced at times are different and how one deals with them different to degrees. Not always, but most times. I also think that having both groups on occasion get together as one group to talk would work to help both understand what the other is going though, but not as a regular deal.
Q4. What can we do as a community to provide more offline support group?
Not really sure, but I do know that having group support that is accessible would help matters, since not everyone has the funds to be able to travel back and forth to clinics for meetings or the like, so having meeting within local community centers would be most helpful (or local churches that offer space for such meetings).