Diverse & Gender-Neutral support?

[OliviaH95]

Where is the tailored & timely support for teenage T1D’s which is diverse and gender-neutral? Can anyone offer any insight/comment/suggestions?

 

[DCUKMod]

Where is the support for teenage T1D’s which is diverse and gender-neautral? What I’ve witnessed, is minority groups are not being spoken too. Can anyone offer any insight/comment?

Olivia - I do hope that isn't something you find here.

In most instances, members use anonymous user names, and frequently non-personalised avatars. On that basis, our membership have no clue to a members age, gender, ethnicity or any other factor which could lead to marginalisation. Very few threads remain unanswered, and most posts are acknowledged and new members welcomed.

Can we help you with anything in particular?

 

[OliviaH95]

Appreciate your reply, thank you.
I wanted to put this Q to the forum, this is an issue I’ve experienced outside of the forum - in clinic, in terms of the support offered; it isn’t tailored to what a Gen Z/young needs from their support..leaflets, FB groups etc....& in terms of diversity/gender - on social media their is a majority of posts by a specific cohort, which I’ve found doesn’t represent minority groups or men.
your thoughts on the above would be great, thank you.

 

[lucylocket61]

Where is the support for teenage T1D’s which is diverse and gender-neautral? What I’ve witnessed, is minority groups are not being spoken too. Can anyone offer any insight/comment?

Can I ask what you have witnessed please? My avatar is of a man, my username is female. How do you know what gender (or none) posters are, or their sexual orientation (or none)?

I am interested in your thoughts and observations, as I may not be noticing something which needs addressing by me in my interactions with others on here.

Do you also have some thoughts and/or concerns about the rest of us who are not teenagers?

 

[lucylocket61]

Appreciate your reply, thank you.
I wanted to put this Q to the forum, this is an issue I’ve experienced outside of the forum - in clinic, in terms of the support offered; it isn’t tailored to what a Gen Z/young needs from their support..leaflets, FB groups etc....& in terms of diversity/gender - on social media their is a majority of posts by a specific cohort, which I’ve found doesn’t represent minority groups or men.
your thoughts on the above would be great, thank you.

Please will you give some more specific information about what is missing, or the issues not being addressed?

 

[NicoleC1971]

Appreciate your reply, thank you.
I wanted to put this Q to the forum, this is an issue I’ve experienced outside of the forum - in clinic, in terms of the support offered; it isn’t tailored to what a Gen Z/young needs from their support..leaflets, FB groups etc....& in terms of diversity/gender - on social media their is a majority of posts by a specific cohort, which I’ve found doesn’t represent minority groups or men.
your thoughts on the above would be great, thank you.

I have a Gen Z or I at home who identifies as a female bisexual. If she went to the local diabetic clinic then I suppose the collateral that she might see would represent the average diabetes cohort e.g. type 2, middle aged, with huge care to show Afro Carribean and South East Asian heritage for obvious reasons. This isn't the only type of diversity of course but its majority rule in this kind of marketing IMO.
The type 1 approach may be much less imaginative in its diversity just because either the NHS or the big pharma people who make this stuff are doing it for all ages but only 1% so perhaps it doesn't seem necessary to them to provide stuff that is aimed at a minority of a minority (the young ).
That said it is known that a current teenage diabetic struggles with following the rules and their nurses struggle with reaching out to them precisely because the type 1 identify is not something they have chosen or want to embrace/
You can tell from the often neutral avators and level of engagement on here I think that this forum is welcoming to those who choose who actively want to be in the tribe!

 

[Antje77]

Where is the support for teenage T1D’s which is diverse and gender-neautral? What I’ve witnessed, is minority groups are not being spoken too. Can anyone offer any insight/comment?

I haven't been a teenager for a very long time (and I wasn't a T1 when I was a teenager), but I can assure you this forum is very welcoming to gender diversity.

When I was nominated to be a wannabe moderator in the mod elections some confusion developed over my gender with someone correcting someone else who had referred to me as 'he' and said I was a 'she'.
I identify as non-binary, so they were both wrong, but no-one batted an eye at my explanation and I still got enough votes to become a mod

We also have a quite recently diagnosed T2 (also a long way from being a teenager ) who is in transition and always happy to support others.

The thing is, I don't really see how diabetes is very relevant to gender or how not being cisgender is very relevant to diabetes. So I don't really see what kind of specific T1 + gender variety support you are looking for.

I'm a member of various facebook groups on diabetes and my experience is that people are kicked out of those groups for 'funny' remarks on LHGBTI+ people.

If I were a teenager with T1 and having gender issues I'd ask if there were others like me in both the social media groups on gender and the groups on T1, and lots of people would pop up for support.

 

[Jaylee]

Appreciate your reply, thank you.
I wanted to put this Q to the forum, this is an issue I’ve experienced outside of the forum - in clinic, in terms of the support offered; it isn’t tailored to what a Gen Z/young needs from their support..leaflets, FB groups etc....& in terms of diversity/gender - on social media their is a majority of posts by a specific cohort, which I’ve found doesn’t represent minority groups or men.
your thoughts on the above would be great, thank you.

Hi,

Can you clarify a little further. Do you mean the tech regarding T1 treatment & management?
Do you feel HCPs maybe are out of touch with the young..?

 

[In Response]

I believe, but apologies if I am wrong, when I signed up I had to provide my gender.
The choices I remember were male or female.
This does not suggest support for gender neutral.

In a similar way, whilst I understand it may help with some responses, I am uncomfortable providing my age range and would rather have the option to chose “rather not say”

 

[Antje77]

I believe, but apologies if I am wrong, when I signed up I had to provide my gender.

Providing your gender is not obligatory when you sign up. Which is why my profile has never had my gender mentioned.

 

[Antje77]

In a similar way, whilst I understand it may help with some responses, I am uncomfortable providing my age range and would rather have the option to chose “rather not say”

If you go to your profile you can change the settings so they are invisible. As you well know because your age is not on your profile.

 

[OliviaH95]

Thanks for your replies. I might not have communicated this well - I’ve put it to the forum as it’s a great place to gain opinions/experiences from others to validate my thoughts/own experiences. - this isn’t about the forum
Itself.
Adherence to management in adolescents is a huge problem (like some of you have touched on). I’m exploring why this could be - I noticed the support which is given doesn’t ‘speak’ to them in their preferences of communication; platforms, language, tone of voice etc.
In addition to this, when I’ve looked at the ‘trending’ blogs/social media pages, their has been an overall lack of diversity - I wanted to see if others have any comments on this aspect?
Thanks again for all your lovely replies!

 

[Antje77]

when I’ve looked at the ‘trending’ blogs/social media pages, their has been an overall lack of diversity

I must be on the not trending social media pages then, as I encounter a lot of diversity there!

Adherence to management in adolescents is a huge problem (like some of you have touched on). I’m exploring why this could be - I noticed the support which is given doesn’t ‘speak’ to them in their preferences of communication; platforms, language, tone of voice etc.

Are you exploring because you've run into issues yourself or from some professional point of view?

 

[Rokaab]

Adherence to management in adolescents is a huge problem (like some of you have touched on). I’m exploring why this could be - I noticed the support which is given doesn’t ‘speak’ to them in their preferences of communication; platforms, language, tone of voice etc.

Possibly because many of the departments just don't know how to use or even have the relevant tech, and how often would said tech need to be replaced with new stuff and then people may need to be retrained since tech is moving very quickly
Heck the diabetes nurses in my clinic still use a paper diary for booking appointments (and they sometimes get overwritten so I'm none the wiser....)

 

[OliviaH95]

I must be on the not trending social media pages then, as I encounter a lot of diversity there!

Are you exploring because you've run into issues yourself or from some professional point of view?

Thank you! ..I’ve been diabetic since I was 8 (Now 25) and I am now dealing with complications through not adhering to my care/support. I feel passionate about making some changes to avoid this for others, just not sure what this is yet. Getting opinions/comments on my thoughts is super useful! I found the support I was given didn’t speak to me at the time - I didn’t want to be defined by my diabetes - and I met a younger T1 who had been diagnosed through lockdown and I was shocked to hear the support she was given hadn’t changed much since I was in my early teens.

 

[In Response]

Providing your gender is not obligatory when you sign up. Which is why my profile has never had my gender mentioned.

Perhaps that should be made clearer.

 

[In Response]

If you go to your profile you can change the settings so they are invisible. As you well know because your age is not on your profile.

View attachment 46200

It does not matter whether it is invisible to other members, diabetes.co.uk has the information and I don’t believe they should.

 

[Jaylee]

Thank you! ..I’ve been diabetic since I was 8 (Now 25) and I am now dealing with complications through not adhering to my care/support. I feel passionate about making some changes to avoid this for others, just not sure what this is yet. Getting opinions/comments on my thoughts is super useful! I found the support I was given didn’t speak to me at the time - I didn’t want to be defined by my diabetes - and I met a younger T1 who had been diagnosed through lockdown and I was shocked to hear the support she was given hadn’t changed much since I was in my early teens.

I was diagnosed on my 8th birthday.

If it's any consolation to you.

When i was diagnosed in 1976, they issued me with a "Janet & John have diabetes" style book to keep me "engaged."
I have to admit, I went though some rebellious periods..

 

[Antje77]

Perhaps that should be made clearer.

Can't be much clearer than those tick boxes for gender and clear instruction on how to hide your birthday.

It does not matter whether it is invisible to other members, diabetes.co.uk has the information and I don’t believe they should.

If it's any consolation, this information may be known higher up, not sure about that, but this is what your profile looks like for a moderator so we cannot see your birthday either.

 

[Jaylee]

OK, getting this back on topic.

@OliviaH95 , what were your observations growing up attending the appointments?