Talking to Your Healthcare Team

One thing to remember when you have diabetes is that you have a whole team of healthcare professionals who are on your side and ready to help you. If you have questions about diabetes or diabetes management, you need to ask them. If you have concerns you need to voice them.

At first you might not know what to say or how to say it, which is why we’ve prepared a cheat sheet of questions below you might want to ask when talking to your doctor and other healthcare professionals.

Highlight the questions below you’d like to ask from the list and add your own.

Then bring it with you to your next appointment. Bring a pen with you too so you canwrite down your doctor’s answers.

• What kind of diabetes do I have?
• Why did I get diabetes?
• What are my risks for diabetes complications?
• What do I need to do to avoid complications from diabetes?
• How often should test my blood glucose each day?
• How do I test my blood glucose?
• What times of the day should I test my blood glucose?
• What’s my target blood glucose range?
• What should I do if I’m low (Hypoglycaemic)?
• What should I do if I’m high (Hyperglycaemic)?
• What’s ketoacidosis and what are ketones?
• What are my diabetes medications for and how do I use them?
• What do I need to do if I am unwell with a cold, flu or other virus?
• How much exercise should I be taking?
• What foods should I be eating and when?
• How do I manage my diabetes under special circumstances?

(Describe the circumstances, for example, when I’m travelling,at school or work, driving, at a party - whatever you need help with).