“Julia Socke has nearly 10 years of clinical experience in Diabetes Self -Management Education (DSME) working with patients of all ages with type 1, type 2, gestational, and monogenic diabetes.   She has worked as Registered Dietitian and Certified Diabetes Educator within diversified academic and community settings in the Chicago-land Area. At Healthy Interactions she currently serves as the ADA Education Recognition Program (ERP) Coordinator as well as the US Training Manager for the Diabetes Conversation Map^® program.”

“People who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones that do.” - Apple

Last month, I was fortunate to be able to attend Obesity Week in Los Angeles.  This conference not only highlighted treatment options for obesity, but also identified where healthcare is falling short to tackle this epidemic.  One consistent theme of the conference was the power that all of us have as individuals to change the direction of current treatment.  This brought to mind a note that a former patient sent me recently. 

He was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at age 14.  He wrote me to tell me that he was named “All Conference” this year for playing football.  He thanked me.  I couldn’t understand why he would thank me for something he accomplished.  He replied and said that when he was diagnosed he thought all of his dreams of playing football would be shattered now that he was a “diabetic”.  He remembered a conversation we had in which I told him that he is not a “diabetic”. He is a teenager that has diabetes and there is a big difference; diabetes couldn’t play football, but he could. 

Something that I said – something that I didn’t think much about and had no recollection of – made such a difference to this young man and how he viewed his prognosis, and, therefore, how he lived his life.  I am not telling this story for a pat on the back, but rather, as a humbling reminder that the things we as healthcare providers do and say – the good, the bad, the ugly – impact those we treat and make lasting impressions.

We can make a huge impact on the course of change for obesity treatment and the way people living with obesity are viewed.  Change starts with us. 

So what is it that we can change? 

We can encourage others to stop referring to people as their disease.  We don’t call people “cancer” or “high cholesterol”, yet people with obesity are called “obese”.  They are not their disease and shouldn’t be defined by their disease.  They are more than a number on a scale that defines them as “obese” in their medical chart.  When other people, including our patients, hear us deviating from this common practice, they may take note, and this is a start. They are a person struggling with a disease that doesn’t always have the clearest treatment options at their finger tips.

We can help our patients understand that obesity is a chronic disease, not an acute disease.  Often, the person living with obesity may feel that they are alone in trying to treat the disease. As HCPs we have a responsibility to help guide the patient in getting the help they need and that may go beyond simply “exercising more” or “eating better”.

We can listen.  Really LISTEN. To EVERY patient. People living with obesity often feel ashamed to come to a healthcare professional for help.  Perhaps this is because they have had a bad experience and felt judged by a medical professional or by our society.  Listening and being empathetic gives that person hope that someone cares.  This may be the reason they continue to seek treatment versus avoiding it all together.

Always remember that as healthcare professionals, we have the power to make a huge difference in the course of obesity treatment as well as our patients’ lives.  Small changes add up to big changes.  It starts with us.