AASW Webinar Recording | Preserving Mental Health in Children and Adolescents Living with Chronic Illness Through a Type 1 Diabetes Lens

A diagnosis of type 1 diabetes (diabetes) has the potential to turn a family’s world upside down, it is a destabilising event that challenges parenting confidence and invariably affects family functioning. Not only is diabetes a chronic, lifelong condition, but often its arrival is quite shocking and unannounced.

Children and adolescents, along with their families, work tirelessly to ensure that diabetes fits into their life, not the other way around. They are living with a dynamic chronic illness that is demanding, unpredictable and psychologically disruptive, and is often, for the most part, unseen. The impact of managing a chronic illness like diabetes in childhood and adolescence can seem invisible, as our children move through life, just like their peers, with their focus being on everything but diabetes.

This session will offer participants an introduction into the key factors impacting the wellbeing of young people living with chronic illness, with particular focus on the relationship between diabetes and mental health. Participants will have an opportunity to gain knowledge in working with families who manage a chronic illness and develop skills in maximising the protective factor that is’ family’.

Who should register? This webinar is suitable for clinicians of any level of experience, along with anyone supporting children and young people living with a chronic illness. The webinar will be particularly relevant to those supporting families where a child or young person is living with Type 1 Diabetes.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this program, participants will be able to:

• Understand the relationship between chronic illness and mental health
• Consider the protective factor of family in reducing the impact of chronic illness
• Understand the role of social work within the context of working with families impacted by chronic illness
• Identify key skills and interventions essential in supporting chronic illness in childhood

AASW Credentials: Mental Health; School