For years, I considered creating a diabetes boot camp. It started out as a joke. Wouldn’t it be great if I could enroll my child in a boot camp and he would suddenly get it? Many people reached out and said that they would love to be able to be a part of something that would allow them to regain their focus on their diabetes care.
What is a boot camp?
According to Google, a boot camp is a short, intensive, and rigorous course of training. Diabetes is a long game but perhaps, a few days of intensive discussion and sharing could make a difference.
There are boot camps to help you improve your fitness. There are great retreats to help you feel less alone in your diabetes care.
What is diabetes boot camp?
I imagined that camp would allow people the opportunity to review the basics of diabetes care, set new goals, and ideally, refocus your life with diabetes.
Diabetes basics
We would talk about blood glucose monitoring, insulin, and ketones.
- What should you be using to monitor your blood sugar?
- Why should you be monitoring your blood sugar?
- What do the various blood sugar readings mean?
- How to interpret the blood sugar the information that you receive?
- What type of insulin are you using?
- How does insulin work?
- What method of delivery are you using? Is it right for your lifestyle?
- What are ketones and when you should check for them.
Dealing with the emotional toll of daily diabetes care
I thought it would be great to take time to look at the emotional toll of diabetes care. Coping mechanisms and tools will be shared. Resources will be provided. You will also be able to support one another in a private Facebook group as well as during a group online support session.
The importance of exercise
Exercise can help to improve your mental health and can also assist in lowering blood sugar levels. I pictured looking at how you could add an exercise routine into your daily life.
Financial resources
Finally, it would be important look into financial resources. To examine programs that are available to help reduce the financial strain of life with type 1 diabetes and share ideas that can help you.
Is a boot camp necessary?
As I mentioned, for years I considered creating a boot camp. It would be an intense program like the one outlined above. There are groups who offer such events. A short, duration to help you refocus.
The more I thought about this idea, the more I realized that short term is not the answer. Many people struggle to find people who understand. They want to connect with real people who get it when you say that you had to dig through the garbage to get the carb count off of that box. They are searching for others who get the fatigue that comes from high and low blood sugars.
This is why I am considering opening an accountability membership site.
Accountability Group
An accountability membership would be a group that would require you to pay a monthly fee to access. You would be asked to share your goals and we would help you to stay on track. There would be support and information. We would provide you with a private group to share your concerns and regular live sessions to talk to other people living with diabetes.
If this sounds like something that could be of interest to you, please let us know and we will share with you once this service is open for enrollment.
hi barb. i just read your Boot Camp post, and commented on that page. i guess i should have posted my comment here. anyway, i believe you have a valid point and a great idea. i would love to somehow be involved with the creation of a “boot camp”. you can contact me through my blog or my email.
I would love to be in the boot camp! I think I need a good kick in the but 🙁
I think a “Boot Camp” that is positive and takes a coaching approch is a good idea. Teens/young people need people that can inspire them to do better. The other model, which I assume is more confrontational, kind of like the TV series “Intervention” works but only when the person is removed to a long-term care facility for months on end. There is a TV series called “Wildspring Academy” where they take extremely overweight obese teens and offer them full dietary, exercise trainers, emotional and psychological support within a boarding school setting. I think this could work. But they are removing the person who needs intervention from their environment and watching them 24/7 to see they don’t lapse into prior behavior. To do this on the outside without psychological help, I don’t think would work. Key seems to be removing the person from their own behavioral control and training to institute new behaviors. A “boot camp” for less serious cases, for people who want to help themselves, yes, that would work.
I am also looking for diabetes boot camp.
My son was diagnosed with t1d Jan 2019 he’s now 15 and still struggling he is also adhd I’m at my Witt’s end trying to help him understand and do everything he needs to do the right way. We moved right after he was diagnosed to a very small town and the school doesn’t have a nurse and no other students with t1d not to mention the staff is basically clueless on the care of t1d. My son has been acting out at home about everything as well as trying to remind about blood sugars insulin etc Having a boot camp would tremendously help him even if there was a big brother big sister program just for the kids with t1d would help but no such luck . We do not have a vehicle nor a lot of friends or family to help us out to where he could go to support groups that are offered ( which are far away the closest one is 45 mins away). Someone please help this struggling stressed to the max momma. You can email me if you would like my email address is meghanpassini@gmail.com
Thanks Meghan
Please can you tell me if this boot camp still exists. My 15 year old daughter really struggles with her condition and as a result has put in lots of weight. The hospital doesn’t appear to want to address the issues related to weight issues for type 1. I would really appreciate some help please
Unfortunately, this isn’t currently offered. Email us at advocacy @diabetesadvocacy.com and we will see how we can help.