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In part 1 of this Exclusive Interview, Kathryn Kreider talks with Diabetes in Control Publisher Steve Freed about the interventions that can help with diabetes distress.
Kathryn Kreider is an Assistant Professor at Duke University School of Nursing in Durham, NC.
Transcript of this video segment:
Freed: This is Steve Freed and we’re here at the American Diabetes Association 78th Scientific Sessions. And we’re doing interviews and we have a special interview today with a nurse, a professor who teaches a lot of other medical professionals. And maybe we can start off with, because diabetes is one of your specialties, tell us a little bit about your practice.
Kreider: Sure, my name is Kathryn Kreider. I’m an assistant professor at Duke University School of Nursing. I’m also a nurse practitioner in adult endocrinology at Duke University Medical Center. And I’m the Director of Advanced Practice Providers for our division. So, I primarily treat diabetes, I would say 70% to 80% of my patient population has diabetes and then I treat other general endocrine conditions as well.
Freed: So, you’re doing a presentation on diabetes distress, a person who’s diagnosed with diabetes all of a sudden needs to be concerned with their food, with their physical activity, with their blood sugars, with their hypertension, all these different things. So, I would think that it becomes a part of becoming a diabetic is the distress immediately. So, what was your presentation about and what can medical professionals learn from what you discovered, and the best way to deal with patients? Because I have to assume that all diabetics in the beginning get stressed just by virtue of being diagnosed.
Kreider: You’re absolutely right. So, diabetes distress, we think of it as being a normal reaction to being diagnosed with diabetes, to developing complications, things that come up along the way. Diabetes distress is defined as a negative emotional reaction to life with diabetes. And so, it is not a psychiatric condition; it’s a very expected response, as you already mentioned, to having diabetes. The literature shows that several interventions can be helpful for patients with diabetes distress, so diabetes self-management education can be helpful so people can feel empowered and feel like they have more control over their diabetes and they know how to problem solve. The other thing that’s been helpful based on the literature is psychoeducation, which is education involving mood and motivation, and problem solving, and coping techniques. And that’s a really important part as well, because just think about how complicated life can be with diabetes and all the things you have to think about on a daily basis and problem solve. And a lot of times patients don’t feel equipped to do that. And so, that training is also very important.