Selecting the Place & Time:

Locate a place to meet on a monthly basis.  There are many options for free meeting rooms.  You can check with your local library, recreation center, hospital, or church.

To determine a meeting date, you may want to find out if there are other support groups meeting in your general area and schedule your group's meeting date on a different day.

The best time for diabetes support groups to meet is between the hours of 6:00 pm - 7:30 pm.  Families have time to get home and have some dinner before attending your meeting.  Then, they will still have time to get everyone ready for bed after the meeting.

Planning the Meetings:

After you have a meeting place and time, then you need to decide on the format of your meetings.  Are you going to have guest speakers, family events, discussion topics, etc.?

If you plan on having guest speakers, you can invite people that are "experts" in the diabetic community.  Some excellent choices for meeting speakers are your endocrinologist's diabetic educator, dietician, school nurse, local insulin pump representative, or contact your local JDRF chapter for assistance.

Not every meeting needs to be a formal presentation.  The best diabetes support groups typically plan a family outing at least once every three months.  This gets everyone participating in an activity together, the kids can socialize, and it gives the families an opportunity to see how other diabetic families function in real world settings.

Post Your Meeting:

REMEMBER!  Send your meeting schedule flyer to help@Support4Diabetes.com so we can post it for your members and anyone that may be looking in your area to join a diabetes support group. 

Advertising Your Meeting:

Once you have at least your first two meetings planned, you will need to get the word out.  The first step is for you to create a flyer that states when and where the meeting will be held, the time the meeting starts, your contact information, and a one sentence description of what is planned for each meeting.  Click here to see a sample flyer.

The best outlets to send your flyer to include you local JDRF chapter, your endocrinologist's office, and your local school district.  It is best to contact these people by phone first, explain the purpose of what you are doing, and request their email address.  Then, email your flyer.

Your first few diabetes support group meetings may be attended by only a couple of families to begin with.  Give it time and more will find their way to you.  Remember to be flexible and positive!

Some Ideas & Suggestions:

Since diabetes support groups are all about supporting its members, below are a few ideas for helping your support group do just that.

Mentor Moms - Members sign up to either mentor another mom that has a newly diagnosed child, or to be mentored.  This provides a local and immediate contact to parents that are struggling with something related to diabetes.  Click here for sign up sheet.

Babysitting Co-op - Members sign up to trade babysitting time with other families that are familiar with how to care for a child with diabetes.  Also, teenage diabetics or siblings of diabetics can sign up to offer their knowlegable services to families.  Click here for sign up sheet.

Fishbowl Discussion Topics - Members drop their requests for discussion topics into the fishbowl for future diabetes support group meetings.  These discussion ideas can be used to facilitate small group talks related to the topic.  Great for finding out what your members want to talk about, and for those meetings when a guest speaker drops out at the last minute.  Click here for sign to place near "fishbowl".