COPING WITH THE DIAGNOSIS |
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Coping with the diagnosis. Diabetes affects every aspect of life, from one's diet to daily schedule, and even affects what the person has to carry with them where ever they go. One aspect of coping is the need to grieve. Both, the family and the child need to grieve the loss of "normal" life. Wakins (2002), describes grief in five separate stages. These stages are Denial, Anger, Guilt, Depression, and Acceptance. Client's diagnosed with type one diabetes are unable to go through the stage of Denial, as denial is not compatible with life in these client's. Support is a crucial factor in coping with the diagnosis of diabetes. In a study by Kyngas & Rissanen (2001), compliance of adolescents with chronic disease was predicted on the basis of support from parents, nurses, doctors, and friends, as well as, motivation, energy, and willpower from the client. In this study, it was found that the most powerful predictor was the support from the nurses. The second most powerful predictor was found to be willpower and energy from within the client. The client's that had the willpower and energy to care for themselves complied with the health care plans designed for them. The factors that were found to contribute to compliance were motivation, sense of normality, positive attitude towards the disease, energy and willpower, subjective experience of results, support system, and feelings that diabetes was not a threat to the client's social well-being. Family and peer support for client's is crucial in compliance with treatments. Studies have shown that having a positive family atmosphere, open relationships with family members, and close peer relationships increase client's commitments when involved in decision-making regarding their own treatments and care. According to studies completed by Chandra et al. (1993), Cramer et al. (1996), Adams et al. (1997), fifty percent of adolescents with chronic diseases do not comply with the care plan recommended for them. These studies show that psychological factors such as attitude, personal meaning, significance of illness and treatment, and therapeutic motivation exert major influence on compliance from adolescent clients. Is support the only method of coping with diabetes? Support from family, friends and the health care team is important and support from family and friends is addressed in the literature. However, emotional support is the only type of support that is addressed. What other kind of support is involved in coping? Education for the client and family enable them to cope better. What kind of support did the health care team offer? The study completed by Kyngas & Rissanen (2001) involved a large sample and included a large number of questions in their questionnaire to receive more detailed information. The study would have been more beneficial had it focused specifically on type one diabetes and the ability of the client and families to cope. |
