Managing your health while living with Type 2 Diabetes can present unique challenges that other individuals just don’t have to deal with. From taking medication, monitoring your blood sugar levels, and trying to live a meaningful life, it can be tough to stay motivated. There are lots of ways to receive support to help keep you on track throughout your health journey.
The Power of SMART Goals
Setting a smart goal can help with motivation as it helps provide you with some direction. Having a specific and measurable goal in mind can be motivating, but goals are tricky. If you are newly diagnosed, goals like “I want to exercise more” or “I want to manage my Diabetes better” sound good, but are not very useful. These examples are too vague, they are tricky to measure, they aren’t particularly relevant or relatable and there is no time component.
We can make those above goals SMART, however
“I want to stabilize my blood sugar levels before I go camping with my family during the next school holidays.”
“I want to improve my walking distance before my holiday in 3 months.”
Both of these are targeting something specific i.e, walking/ normalizing Blood sugar levels. Both goals have a clear date or time frame to try and achieve the goal. Both goals can be measured i.e, Walking distance/ Blood Glucose Levels (BGLS). Both of these goals are tied to something meaningful for the individual, i.e, a Holiday or Camping with the family.
Who Can Help? Understanding Allied Health Support
Know that you have a goal knowing which professional to visit to help you achieve your goal is the next step. The allied health sector is made of many professionals that can provide support to manage Type 2 Diabetes. If you have been living with T2DM chances, are you have worked with an Exercise physiologist, dietitian, Type 2 Diabetes educator, and a Pharmacist. But Other Allied health professionals can assist you in ways you might not have considered.
Allied Health Professionals Who Can Support You
- Dietitions can help you by discussing your diet and how it is impacting your health, they can help you make different choices to better your health.
- Exercise physiologist can help you exercise in a effective and safe manner to help achieve your goals. The can complete testing also to help you create SMART goals.
- Pharmacists provide you with medications prescribed by your General Practitioner. They can help you understand side effects, differences between brands and help you organise your medications in the form of schedules and Webster packs.
- Psychologist can help you manage negative emotions and cultivate positive thoughts through Cognitive Behaviour Therapy.
- Podiatrists are beneficial for prescribe orthotics to reduce areas of high pressure or excessive rubbing resulting in reduced risks of foot ulcers.
- Osteopaths and Physiotherapist can help you manage any musculoskeletal concerns that might be preventing your from being as active as you would like. Both professions can also screen, diagnose and refer you for additional complications that may occur due to Type 2 Diabetes such as Peripheral neuropathy.
- Nurses can help you with wound care if you are unable to manage by yourself.
Final Thoughts
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