English
English

U-Health | Pilot study on type 1 diabetes

Overview

Dealing with emotions and the ability to face challenges in a way that doesn't stress us out is part of life. But how do we even realise when something is stressing us out and how do we deal with it? Do people with diabetes have stress at all or just blood sugar fluctuations? The new programme aims to explore these connections together with the participants; individually and in a group.

The "Integrative Type 1 Diabetology" working group at Witten/Herdecke University develops and supports interventions and issues that are initiated or reported as a need by people with type 1 diabetes. In 2018, for example, we realised a pilot study on fasting in type 1 diabetes and showed that people with type 1 diabetes can also fast. Even then, it became clear that many people with type 1 diabetes would also like to develop other aspects of their lives, such as emotional and biographical dimensions.

Our newly developed annual course is intended to start a joint exploration of ways to not only regulate blood sugar, but also to develop self-help techniques for regulating emotional and stress levels. We will use modern findings and tools from the psycho-neuro-immunology of current stress research, the Zurich Resource Model and Somatic Experiencing according to Peter Levine. All steps are accompanied and deepened by mindfulness exercises and pressure-free perception and movement games in the context of music and movement.

Our scientifically developed course programme runs through 7 phases. Even though we all have our own pace, we want to create these important steps together. This concept is based on Otto Scharmer's Theory U. We provide the professional framework and the necessary expertise for this exciting exploration process.

The course programme

  • Module 1: Breathe and pause
    This module is about arriving, getting to know and recognising our individual stress patterns.
  • Module 2: Warming - Feeling - Diving into the emotional field
    This module is about exploring our emotional and physical reactions.
  • Module 3: Nourishing and meeting
    This module is about the importance of the social environment for stress and the question of what nourishes us.
  • Module 4: Separating and centring
    This module deals with the meaning of our individual solution approach.
  • Module 5: Receiving and recognising
    This module is about recognising and appreciating our solutions.
  • Module 6: Expanding our resources
    This module is about our resources and needs.
  • Module 7: Integrating the new into our everyday lives
    This module is about how we can live what is meaningful to us in our everyday lives, about looking back and saying goodbye.
A group of people are standing in a meadow.

Course structure and dates

The programme offers a mixture of face-to-face weekends and online meetings. As soon as the dates for 2025 have been finalised, they will be announced here.

Conditions of participation and costs

People can take part

  • with type 1 diabetes (for more than one year)
  • without psychiatric illnesses requiring treatment (with the exception of mild and moderate depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and burnout)
  • without acute kidney disease
  • without an ongoing application for retirement
  • who are not currently participating in another study

 

The contribution is 200 euros per weekend or 100 euros for study participants. We can also find a solution for people without an income. Please get in touch!

Drinks and snacks will be provided. We can help you organise inexpensive accommodation. The study is sponsored by the Chaja Foundation.

Latest news

The Integrative Type 1 Diabetology working group at the Gerhard Kienle Chair of Medical Theory, Integrative and Anthroposophic Medicine and "Raum für Eigensinn" invite you: On Sunday, 11 May 2025 from 10:00 to 14:00, the team will present the pilot study by and for people with type 1 diabetes - Recognising and regulating emotions and stress U-Health (long version) to interested people with type 1 diabetes and their advisors, doctors, students, researchers and those interested in integrative type 1 diabetology, colleagues and friends. The presentation will take place at the Dörte Krause Institute, Gerhard-Kienle-Weg 10, 58313 Herdecke.

Excerpt from the programme

  • Lecture by Dr Stefan Schmidt-Troschke, Gesundheit aktiv: U-Health - a new self-management format
    for people with chronic diseases
  • Lecture by Dr Bettina Berger: Why a long version now? Self-management challenges for people with autoimmune type 1 diabetes
  • Body music with Ulrike Ronnefeldt
  • Introduction Adelheid Köhn: Emotional labour and its importance for health
  • Study participants: What have we learnt and what has it brought us?
  • Guided tour of the exhibition "Making the invisible visible"


Katrin Albrecht and Bettina Berger are available for registrations and queries. You can also take part in the event online.

Interested parties are invited to participate in a new round of the study from 8/2025.

Research

As in other research projects of the working group, we combine the opportunity to gain experience with research. Together with the participants, we want to reflect on whether this programme is feasible and whether there is evidence that improving emotional regulation skills helps to reduce stress. In this phase, we want to generate initial ideas for the next courses.

Of course, participation in the research is voluntary. Anyone who is willing to take part will be accepted as a study participant and asked to arrive a little earlier before our meetings. There are some questionnaires to fill in. We will reduce the participation fees as compensation for taking part in the data collection. We will make the individual data available at the end.

Further reading

  • Berger B. Fasting is also possible with type 1 diabetes. In: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLZz6XBipXk&t=2s, documentary film of the 2019 fasting study.
  • Berger B, Stange R, Baumann A, Köblös D, Liebscher D, Bley M, et al. Fasting for people with type 1 diabetes (FaMeD1). Nutrition & Medicine. 2019;34(02):74 81.
  • Berger B, Jenetzky E, Köblös D, Stange R, Baumann A, Simstich J, et al. Seven-day fasting as a multimodal complex intervention for adults with type 1 diabetes: Feasibility, benefit and safety in a controlled pilot study. Nutrition. 2021;86:111169.
  • Te Velde AA, Bezema T, van Kampen AH, Kraneveld AD, t Hart BA, van Middendorp H, et al. Embracing Complexity beyond Systems Medicine: A New Approach to Chronic Immune Disorders. Front Immunol. 2016;7:587.
  • Stojanovich L, Marisavljevich D. Stress as a trigger of autoimmune disease. Autoimmune Rev. 2008;7(3):209-13.
  • Ni Y, Ma L, Li J. Effects of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction and Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy in People With Diabetes: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. J Nurs Scholarsh. 2020;52(4):379 88.
  • Eilers G, Storch M. Dolce Vita with diabetes. An enjoyable reference guide for dealing with diabetes. Bern: Hogrefe; 2016. 329 p.
  • Scharmer CO. Theory U: Leading from the future as it emerges. San Francisco:: Berrett-Koehler; 2009. 544 p.

Director of studies and contact person

Investigator

External team members


Ulrike Ronnefeldt
Rhythmics + mindfulness teacher, long-time nurse in the field of psychosomatics/psychotherapy
In the U-Health programme: mindfulness, music and movement
https://achtsamkeit-bewegt.de/ueber me/


Adelheid Köhn
HP for psychotherapy, NARM trauma therapy
In the U-Health programme: resource-oriented, trauma-sensitive process work
https://therapie-manaia.de/ueber me/