About Us
BDI along with colleagues in the field of diabetes health and mental wellbeing are continuously working on research projects to further improve the lives of people living with diabetes worldwide.
BEHAVIORAL DIABETES INSTITUTE
Our Mission
The Behavioral Diabetes Institute (BDI) is dedicated to helping people with diabetes live long, healthy and happy lives. While diabetes can wreak terrible harm, recent scientific evidence indicates that most long-term complications can be delayed or prevented when there is appropriate medical care and active self-management. Unfortunately, this can be tough, since living well with diabetes takes time, knowledge, and effort. Many people become overwhelmed, frustrated, or “burned out” by the daily difficulties of diabetes and by the unending, often burdensome self-care demands, potentially leading to anger, guilt, depression, fear, feelings of hopelessness. This can often lead to stresses and strains on personal relationships.
Addressing these real-life emotional aspects of diabetes is critical for long-term success, yet often they are given little attention in common medical practice. The BDI was created to help people better identify, understand, and tackle these problems.
BEHAVIORAL DIABETES INSTITUTE
A Brief History
The Behavioral Diabetes Institute (BDI) was created as an educational non-profit organization to better recognize, understand, and tackle the real-life emotional challenges of diabetes. To accomplish these tasks, the BDI provides direct clinical services for people with diabetes (e.g., diabetes-specific psychological support programs and behaviorally-based education and training in diabetes self-management) and professional services for health care professionals (e.g., training programs in behavioral diabetes interventions), while also conducting studies to elucidate the key behavioral contributors to successful diabetes management.
Since BDI’s founding in 2003, several thousand people with diabetes and their loved ones have participated in our in-person programs in San Diego. Currently, BDI offers a variety of very low cost group classes and one-day workshops that address: depression, eating disorders, life with complications, parenting challenges and struggles with control, and diabetes “burnout”. In addition, BDI has reached over 250,000 people with diabetes and their loved ones through its written publications and online resources.
BDI has held more than a dozen in-person trainings for healthcare professionals on emotional/ behavioral aspects of diabetes. Many of these trainings were video recorded and are available at no charge on the BDI website. The three, part-time clinical psychologists at BDI are also committed to educating outside healthcare professionals on the emotional aspects of diabetes and are frequently invited speakers around the globe. In addition, through the research arm of the BDI, we have completed a series of major studies on the emotional aspects of diabetes that have led to more than a dozen scientific publications.
Financially, BDI has been largely self-sustaining by raising operating funds through the sale and licensing of our 5 written tools. In developing global partnerships, BDI publications have been licensed around the world, reaching patients across North America, the European Union, Southeast Asia, Australia and the Middle East.
BEHAVIORAL DIABETES INSTITUTE
Funding
To date, funding for BDI operations has come from revenue generated by licensing of print materials and individual donations.
To support the design, development, and provision of its products and services to the diabetes community, BDI seeks operating revenue from the following sources:
- Donations from individuals and organizations
- Licensing of print materials
- Fees for services
- Grants for specific projects or operating support
BEHAVIORAL DIABETES INSTITUTE
Our Visionary Staff
William Polonsky
President
Bio
In addition to being the Co-Founder of the Behavioral Diabetes Institute, Dr. Polonsky is Associate Clinical Professor in Medicine at the University of California San Diego. He received his PhD in clinical psychology from Yale University and has served as Senior Psychologist at the Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston, faculty member at Harvard Medical School and Chairman of the National Certification Board for Diabetes Educators.
A licensed clinical psychologist, certified diabetes care and educational specialist (CDCES), and highly-cited research scientist with more than 150 peer-reviewed publications in the field of behavioral diabetes, Dr. Polonsky is a distinguished national and international lecturer on behavioral diabetes issues. He has served on the editorial boards of Diabetes
Care, Diabetes Forecast, Clinical Diabetes, Diabetes Self-Management and Diabetes Health and received the American Diabetes Association’s 2020 Outstanding Educator in Diabetes Award and the American Diabetes Association’s 2014 Richard R. Rubin Award for distinguished contributions to behavioral medicine and psychology.
His most recent research projects have focused on quality of life in diabetes, diabetes-related distress, hypoglycemic fear, glucose monitoring behavior and attitudes in people living with diabetes, group-based behavior change programs, the influence of continuous glucose monitoring on quality of life, and the development of new methods for enhancing diabetes education. In addition, he continues to maintain a small clinical practice where he works with his patients to help alleviate the stresses, strains and aggravations of living with diabetes.
Of note, he has authored several books for the lay audience (e.g., Diabetes Burnout: What to Do When You Can’t Take it Anymore) and co-edited several others for health care professionals (e.g., A CORE Curriculum for Diabetes Education).
Susan Guzman
Director of Clinical Education
Lawrence Fisher
Research Director
Tawny Jennings
Office Manager
BEHAVIORAL DIABETES INSTITUTE
Board of Directors
Brian Haubenstock
Chairman
David Price
Director
William Polonsky
President
Susan Guzman
Director of Clinical Education
Michael Mehringer
Treasurer
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