Not a survey, just a question about support groups

[Jen Weyandt]

My name is Jen and I am in graduate school to become a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner and I am specializing in children with special health care needs. As part of one of our projects we are supposed to gather information on a support group.

I was wondering do those of you who use this site consider it a support group?


Have you tried in person support groups?


What are the advantages of this type of format?


Do you prefer one over the other, why?

Thank you for taking the time to answer these questions, feel free to respond to as many as you wish, you don't need to answer them all if you don't want to. Thanks so much for your time,

Jen

[Amy C.]

I was wondering do those of you who use this site consider it a support group?

I consider this site to be part of my support system. I am also a member of the ParentswithDiabetes e-mail list. You get answers a little faster there.


Have you tried in person support groups?

I have not attended a meeting where the topic was concerns about type 1 diabetes care. I have been in a group consisted of other parents of type 1 kids, but the purpose was to organize a camp.

What are the advantages of this type of format?

Convenience.

Do you prefer one over the other, why?

I think the time it takes to organize a group, find folks to attend, and then speak in person with other adults is not worth the effort. Dealing with diabetes is a major part of my life. I would dislike having to spend more time than I do now on dealing with diabetes.

[Cheryl]

1. This is one of the types of support we use. Yes, support group.

2.Yes. We've been to Support Groups. A group of Mom's in my areas just started our own with Animas as our Corp. Sponsor. Coming up on our 3rd meeting with good attendence.

3. The advantage of this Forum for me is in the middle of the night I can surf the Forum, in quiet, when I am monitoring BG for my young child. But I do check in almost daily to see what the new buzz is each day.

4. I don't prefer any type of support system over another. I appreciate them all for what they are worth.

[Jen Weyandt]

Thank you for the replies so far. I just wanted to let kids and teens know that I'd love to hear from them too...thanks :o

[munchkingirl]

1. I was wondering do those of you who use this site consider it a support group?

I consider it a support group, for sure!

2. Have you tried in person support groups?

My town is a fairly large size, but there really is not any support group to speak of in it, sadly. So, in person support groups don't really work.

3. What are the advantages of this type of format?

The advantages are that - it does not require any driving around to get the support you need - or to give support. The prices of gas are just far too high for that, for me. Also - there are a lot more people, with a lot of different experiences and ethnic backgrounds to give different kinds of points of views than would be gotten in my town - because there are a limited amount of resources, as in every town.

4. Do you prefer one over the other, why?

this would be my preference. Probably for the same reasons posted in the question above.

[butterflygal291]

i consider this site to be a support group. i've never been to a support group in person though.

[monkey97]

i do consider this site to be a support group.
We do belong to a local support group, theyre more events, family days etc. With this site it seems less judgmental, and easier to tell people if your having problems. more understanding.
the local group is good for siblings cos it gets them involved. as far as helping parents cope the CWD site is great.

[sharon c]

we don;t have active support groups that i can easily get to without travelling great distances, so yes when i need help i come on here for advice and have found it to be a great help.

[gsmom]

We have a diabetic support group near us, but my son was the only child in it. Most of the people attending were adults. A lot of what we heard was "Oh, he's so young" and "You poor thing." Not real supportive in terms of help. The only other support group for kids is about an hour drive away.

Jodi
Mom of Garrett (dx 8/03) 11, Genna 8 & Gillian 6

[wilf]

I was wondering do those of you who use this site consider it a support group?


Have you tried in person support groups?


What are the advantages of this type of format?


Do you prefer one over the other, why?

Jen

Yes this site is an effective support group.

Yes, I run an in-person support group.

Both have advantages and disadvantages.

I prefer in person, but this is great for sharing experiences and ideas.

[jcanolson]

We tried to find a JDRF group in our area when Nat was dx'd, but no luck. There is a diabetic support group in the next town, but the topics at meetings, etc. are more related to older Type 2.
Although it took me awhile to find this site and I'm fairly new to it, yes, I would consider it a support group.
I do prefer it to the traditional group because someone is pretty much always here. It's not just a meeting once a month. If you are having an issue, you could probably find help here any time.