How the program works
The Mental Health + Diabetes Training Program will provide knowledge and tools to help registered providers deliver the best support to their patients with diabetes.
This program was developed by a Steering Committee made up of diabetes and mental health experts from across Canada and people with lived experience of diabetes.
- Program Format
Self-paced e-learning modules
- Diabetes Basics
- Diagnosis and Adjustment
- Diabetes Management
- Transitions
- Complications, Successes and Challenges
- Role of the Mental Health Provider
Virtual interactive session
Registered mental health providers will be required to attend a 3 hour live virtual interactive session led by a subject matter expert facilitator after completing the e-learning modules.
A certificate will be awarded to mental health providers upon successful program completion. Certificates for healthcare providers and continuing education purposes are available upon request.
Learning Objectives
Purpose: To enable mental health providers to integrate knowledge of living with diabetes into practice
- Summarize the basics of diabetes (diagnosis, treatment, potential health complications, self-management) and discuss its heterogeneity.
- Recognize the importance of the lived experience of diabetes including adaptation, living well with diabetes, and managing social, environmental and structural challenges all of which may be the focus of mental health treatment.
- Describe the potential roles mental health professionals may have in the support of people with diabetes, including becoming part of their care team in the management of diabetes as well as for mental health concerns.
- Adapt and apply various psychological approaches to support individual resiliency and engagement in self-care to live well with diabetes within the social and cultural context of the individual.
- The Modules
Module 1:
Diabetes Basics
- Define prediabetes, type 2 diabetes, type 1 diabetes and gestational diabetes
- Review clinical signs and symptoms of diabetes, initiating treatment and the basics of management for type 1 and type 2 diabetes
- Overview of short-term and long-term complications of diabetes
Module 2:
Diagnosis and Adjustment
- Sensitize the MH provider to the burden often associated with a disease that
- For those living with type 1 diabetes is filled with risk
- For those living with T2D requires significant action before the onset of symptoms
- Define and discuss acceptance in the context of diagnosis, treatment, transitions, and complications
- Discuss adjustment to the day-to-day activities associated with self-management
Module 3:
Diabetes Management
- Situate diabetes self-management within the biopsychosocial context and recognition of social determinants of health
- Normalize ambivalence and difficulties maintaining self-management and health behaviours
- Understand the impact of stress, diabetes distress, diabetes burnout, and depression on diabetes management
- Support development of various coping strategies and flexible use of strategies
- Outline behaviour modification strategies for self-management and health behaviour change
- Addressing diabetes-specific forms of distress and support a resilience and growth mindset
Module 4:
Transitions
- Outline the typical transition process from paediatric to adult health care
- Provide examples of psychosocial and social support to protect young adults from negative outcomes during this time period
- Highlight common life transitions and how they intersect with diabetes
- Discuss ways to use social support to help buffer people with diabetes from transition stressors
- Delineate various diabetes treatment management transitions over time
- Examine ways to use social support to offset the impact of diabetes social stigma that may be experienced during transition periods of diabetes management
Module 5:
Complications, Successes and Challenges
- Review common concerns and fears about selected diabetes complications
- Highlight resilience in people with diabetes
- Discuss peer support for people with diabetes
- Describe parent-child conflicts around diabetes management
- Introduce disordered eating, eating disorders and diabetes
- Describe sleep-related disturbances associated with diabetes
- Highlight common clinical issues for which patients with diabetes seek mental health treatment
Module 6:
Role of Mental Health Provider
- Demonstrate how to screen for and assess diabetes distress for people with diabetes
- Discuss how to advocate for people with diabetes and make appropriate referrals
- Learn how to modify treatment approaches for people with diabetes
- Describe how to consult and communicate with the interdisciplinary diabetes health care team
- Identify tools to support diabetes self-management efforts
- Describe approaches to communicate with people with diabetes and their families
- Demonstrate strategies for providing emotional support to people with diabetes
- Steering Committee
We greatly appreciate the contributions of the Steering Committee and Advisors to the content of the Mental Health + Diabetes Training Program.
Co-Chairs
Tricia S. Tang
PhD, R Psych
University of British Columbia, BC
Michael Vallis
PhD, R Psych
Dalhousie University, NS
Committee Members
Julia Bannister
MSW, RSW, CDE
Private practice, and person with lived experience of diabetes, NB
Mona Gupta
MD, FRCPC, PhD
University of Montréal, QC
Amanda Hailman
MPH
JDRF Canada, ON
Jessica Kichler
CDCES, PhD,
C Psych
University of Windsor, ON
Gerri Klein
RN, MScN, CDE
Person with lived experience of diabetes
BCDiabetes, BC.
Joanne Lewis
RD, CDE
Diabetes Canada, ON
Sarah Linklater
PhD
JDRF Canada, BC
Sadanand Mankikar
MSc (Botany),
MSc (Biology)
Person with lived experience of diabetes, ON
Caleb Pope
Person with lived experience of diabetes, BC
Marie Raffray
MSc Inf (RN, MScN), CDE
Montreal Clinical Research Institute, QC
Tiffany Shepherd
PhD, R Psych
Nova Scotia Health, NS
Brandy Wicklow
MD, MSc (epi), FRCPC
University of Manitoba, MB
Advisors
Zosia Anders
MSW, Medical Psychiatry
Centre hospitalier de l’Université de Montréal (CHUM), QC
Jeffery Doering
MA, PhD candidate
Person with lived experience of diabetes, ON
Akshay Jain
MD, FRCPC, FACE
TLC Diabetes and Endocrinology Clinic, BC
Josée Jarry
PhD, C Psych
University of Windsor, ON
Irene Leung
Person with lived experience of diabetes, BC
Gaurav Mehta
FRCPC, MSc (Psych), MSc (Diabetes)
Southlake Regional Health Centre, ON
Remi Rabasa-Lhoret
MD, PhD
IRCM, University of Montréal, QC
Thank you to everyone that shared their personal lived experience stories of diabetes. Your contributions are greatly appreciated.
- * Primary affiliations only are listed