Accessing Care

This section focuses on supporting your ability to access healthcare and effectively communicate your needs within that system, as these are vital for self-management of your diabetes. Without the support from necessary healthcare professionals or access to essential supplies, it would be very difficult to engage in habits and routines that positively impact your health. The aim of this section is to provide you the tools to navigate accessing medical care that is affordable, accessible, and responsive to your diabetes care needs.

Healthcare Communication

GLADD
The Give, Listen, Ask, Decide, Do resource emphasizes your role as an active part of your diabetes care through reciprocal conversation with health care providers.
Talking With Your Doctor About Diabetes
This worksheet encourages exploration of your personal feelings surrounding specific aspects of diabetes management in order to help organize your concerns and communicate those to your doctor.

Health Literacy

Analyzing Alternative Treatment Options
This resource prompts you with questions to maintain self-accountability and thorough decision-making when exploring alternative treatment options.
Talking to Your Doctor About the Pump or CGM
This worksheet allows you to document your questions and concerns about getting a pump/CGM, reasons you’d benefit and evidence you are prepared to have a pump/CGM.

Healthcare Access

My Diabetes Care Team
This worksheet allows you to document the name, responsibility, phone number, and address for your diabetes care team members ranging from primary care provider to opthamologist and dietician.
Office Visit Cheat Sheet
This worksheet can assist you in prioritizing topics of discussion and personal areas of concern prior to upcoming visit to the doctor’s office.
Provider Name and Contact Information
This worksheet provides a place to record contact information, insurance information, and notes about your providers.

Other Resources

AACE Endo Search
The American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists’s database search. Can be filtered by zip code and distance.

Covered California
Visit this website for information about enrolling in a health insurance plan through Covered California.

Health Insurance Coverage 101
ABC’s of Coverage provides a brief explanation of the basics of health insurance.

“Keys to being an Informed Patient”
This Diabetes Forecast article by Lindey Wahowiak provides you with tips for increasing your knowledge about and involvement in your own healthcare and coverage.

Treating Type 1 Diabetes without Insurance
Rob Howe, founder of Diabetics Doing Things, documents what it was like to treat his type 1 diabetes for 30 days without any prescription products. This article contains links to additional resources about treating type 1 diabetes when one is uninsured.

When you can’t afford the insulin that you need to survive - How to use the cheap “old-school” insulin
Written in 2015, this BootCamp for Betics Blog post outlines how to navigate getting insulin without insurance or when you can’t pay insurance fees.

Check out “Accessing Care” within the Resources tab for more healthcare access resources.