Research Project
3151852
A years extension of the current project period is requested to allow for maximum productivity from the research in terms of analysis and presentation of data from studies completed and work in progress with a view to both short-term and longer term objectives. In the short-term, data from the relaxation study currently approaching completion will be analyzed; a treatment package to aid diabetes management will be developed on the basis of the results of the current studies where patients are trained to estimate their blood glucose levels using subjective cues and to use relaxation techniques to improve their diabetes control. The efficacy of an "active" management package used in a series of group sessions will be evaluated in terms of changes in knowledge of diabetes, diabetes control and general well being in comparison with the efficacy of a "passive" treatment package involving more traditional educational techniques. With a view to longer-term objectives, the existing data base will be used in determining the most fruitful directions of future research including: 1) pilot investigation of the possibility that relaxation techniques may be an effective means of improving diabetes control by improving skin blood flow and thereby enhancing and stablizing the rate of insulin absorption, ii) use of newly developed measures of perceived control of diabetes and diabetes-related health beliefs to enable prediction not only of patients' choice of treatment but also prediction of individual differences in the efficacy of treatments for diabetes, iii) examination of the possibility that the use of continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion may protect diabetic individuals against the disruptive effects of stressful experiences on diabetes control.
