Abstract
Context: Type 1 diabetes is a lifelong disorder needing 24 × 7 × 365 care and attention. In
these children, adherence to prescribed medical regimens and monitoring on a continuous
basis is one of the most challenging problems faced by the medical community. Self-management
becomes very essential for ensuring good outcomes, since psychosocial factors also
play a crucial role in regimen adherence and glycemic control. Aim: This article aims to describe the utility of play therapy in diabetes management.
Play therapy is a useful approach that can help in establishing a dynamic interpersonal
relationship between the child and the therapist in a playful unconventional manner,
supporting in their learning process for self-management. Materials and methods: This communication reviews available literature on play therapy, and describes examples
of play therapy used in a mulitnational programme. The changing diabetes in children
program focused at reaching out to the economically underprivileged children with
type 1 diabetes, has implemented two useful play therapy tools to help the type 1
child learn to take insulin injections and understand the basic do′s and don′ts for
proper diabetes management. Conclusion: Play-therapy is useful in making the difficult task of managing diabetes interesting
and easy.
Diabetes education tools - good habits - insulin taking site rotation - insulin taking
technique - motivation - Novo Nordisk teaches to take insulin doll - play therapy
- psychosocial factors - snakes and ladders - type 1 diabetes
