Psychology and Behaviour Change in Diabetes Care

Psychology and Behaviour Change in Diabetes Care
Early Bird: £299+VAT 5 CPD Hours
Online Course, 5 CPD Hours
Mon 1 Feb 2027 09:00-15:20

Build confidence in conversations that support diabetes self-management


Supporting adults with Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes through practical, psychologically informed consultations, this interactive online workshop will help you understand what may be affecting someone’s self-management, explore what matters to them and agree realistic next steps.


Led by Professor Katharine Barnard-Kelly, Health Psychologist, the day combines focused presentations, case studies and skills practice on behaviour change, diabetes technology, distress and wider mental health needs.

Seeing the person behind diabetes

Understand what may be affecting self-management


Living with diabetes brings emotional, cognitive and practical demands that can shape self-management, engagement with care and experiences of technology. This workshop explores how psychology and behaviour change approaches can help clinicians understand each person’s priorities, support more effective conversations and respond to distress and wider mental health needs.


The workshop will cover:


  • Exploring the emotional, cognitive and practical demands of living with diabetes, including treatment burden
  • Identifying possible barriers when a care plan is not working
  • Examining motivation, ambivalence, readiness and personal circumstances in behaviour change
  • Using structured questions to identify what matters in person-centred consultations
  • Practising reflective listening and open questions in motivational conversations
  • Exploring the psychological impact of diabetes technology, including when alerts or data feel overwhelming
  • Recognising diabetes distress, burnout and wider mental health needs, and responding within the professional’s role
  • Applying these approaches to complex cases and agreeing practical next steps

Time to share and reflect

Practise approaches through cases and conversation skills


The workshop combines presentations with interactive case studies and facilitated skills practice. You will benefit from:


  • Learning from Professor Katharine Barnard-Kelly who is an expert in health psychology and diabetes
  • Building confidence by practising different approaches in a supportive setting
  • Sharing experiences and ideas with colleagues supporting adults with diabetes
  • Gaining feedback on situations and challenges from your own practice
  • Taking away practical ideas to adapt in your consultations

In-house training

Available as a bespoke course for teams of 25 people or more. Please contact us if you would like this training delivered exclusively to your team, with the content tailored to your organisation’s needs. Please email Sarah Kemm or call Sarah on 01732 897788 for further details.


9.00
Joining, technical support and workshop instructions
9.30
Introduction and welcome
  • Aims and focus for the day
Professor Katharine Barnard-Kelly, Health Psychologist
Understanding self-management
9.40
The psychological experience of living with diabetes
  • Understanding the emotional, cognitive and practical demands of living with diabetes
  • Examining treatment burden and its effect on daily life and self-management
  • Recognising how competing priorities and personal circumstances can shape care
10.10
Questions and answers with Katharine Barnard-Kelly
10.20
Interactive case study: When the care plan isn’t working
  • Reviewing a case involving missed appointments or difficulty following a plan
  • Identifying possible barriers without jumping to assumptions about motivation
  • Practising questions that help uncover what is getting in the way
10.40
Screen break
Supporting behaviour change
10:50
Understanding behaviour change in diabetes care
  • Assessing motivation, ambivalence, readiness and the conditions that support change
  • Identifying how autonomy and personal circumstances affect a person’s choices
  • Challenging assumptions behind the label of ‘non-adherence’
11.20
Questions and answers with Katharine Barnard-Kelly
11.30
Person-centred diabetes consultations: finding what matters
  • Using structured questions to understand a person’s priorities and goals
  • Considering when available patient-reported measures could support the consultation
  • Connecting what matters to the person with practical support and review
12.00
Questions and answers with Katharine Barnard-Kelly
12.10
Skills practice: Motivational conversations
  • Practising reflective listening and open questions without pushing for a particular answer
  • Planning how to respond when a patient feels stuck or unsure
  • How do you stay curious and supportive when your energy is low and you’re not feeling it
12.30
Lunch break
Living with diabetes technology
1.00
The psychological impact of diabetes technology
  • How CGM and pump use can affect confidence, anxiety and treatment burden
  • Exploring the impact of alerts, data and the expectation to respond
  • Comparing how individual preferences and circumstances shape the experience of technology
1.30
Questions and answers with Katharine Barnard-Kelly
1.40
Interactive case study: When technology feels overwhelming
  • Working through a case involving alerts, data or pressure to respond
  • Understanding what the person finds difficult and what they would like to change
  • Reflecting on the different ways to adapt the conversation and support to their needs
2.00
Screen break
Recognising needs and planning support
2.10
Diabetes distress, burnout and wider mental health needs
  • Recognising diabetes distress, burnout, anxiety, low mood and possible disordered eating
  • Considering how diabetes and wider life pressures may interact
  • Practising how to ask sensitively, respond within the professional’s role and decide when to involve specialist support
2.40
Questions and answers with Katharine Barnard-Kelly
2.50
Integrated case workshop: From concern to an agreed plan
  • Applying the day’s approaches to a more complex case
  • Agreeing a practical next step that reflects the person’s priorities
  • Identifying how support could be reviewed or when further help may be appropriate
Action planning
3.10
Next steps: How will you embed good practice?
  • Summarising key takeaways and identifying which approaches you will use in practice
3.20
Close of workshop

Your experienced workshop leader

Professor Katharine Barnard-Kelly, Health Psychologist, will lead the day, drawing on her work in diabetes psychology and behaviour change to help all attendees apply practical approaches in everyday consultations.

Professor Katharine Barnard-Kelly

Health Psychologist

Pricing Structure

  • £299+VAT early bird (£50 off) NHS or public sector places when booked before Friday 4th December 2026
  • £349+VAT full price for one NHS or public sector place 
  • £299+VAT colleague rate (£50 off) each NHS or public sector when booking 2-3 places
  • Fourth place FREE: team offer when you book 3 places at full price

Discount policy: Only one offer applies per booking


This course is available for in-house training 


Available as a bespoke workshop to teams of 25 or more people. Please do contact us if you would like this course delivered exclusively to your team, with the content developed to drill into the specific needs of your service. Please email Sarah Kemm or call 01732 897788 for further details.


Commercial companies are also invited to sponsor this day. Please email Vanessa Jarman for further details.

You can reserve a no-obligation place whilst you apply for funding


If your funding has not yet been secured or you would like to hold your place with no obligation whilst waiting for your study leave to be approved, you can reserve your place with us. Please email the reservations team at SBK Healthcare with your details:


  •  Booking contact: name, job title, department, email and telephone number
  •  Event(s) to reserve for: title and date
  •  Delegate details (for each delegate): name, job title, department, email and telephone number
  •  Organisation details: name and address

Alternatively you can make a confirmed booking by emailing the above information to the bookings team

Once you have booked your place, SBK Healthcare will correspond with you using the email address you provided at the time of booking. Within one week of the online conference taking place, you will be sent final details of the course including a full agenda, programme timings and your Zoom joining instructions. This email will include a joining link that can be used to access the conference.


If you have not received your email two days before your event, do check your junk folder then contact SBK Healthcare on 01732 897788.


Practice sessions are available and you will be sent an invitation to join one of our delegate practice sessions. These are optional but great if you are unsure of whether your camera and microphone will work on Zoom. We hold several one hour practice sessions across the week when a member of SBK Healthcare staff will be waiting in Zoom to assist you. Please do pop in, say hello and make sure you are all set for the day.


On the day, when registration starts, you will be able to join the conference by initially entering a waiting room when there may be a short wait. In groups of between 6-10 people, you will be admitted into the main conference room to be greeted by a member of SBK staff. In the same group you will be taken into a breakout room and asked to turn on your video and microphone. A member of the SBK team will get your group started with some orientation tasks and ‘ice breaker’ topics, before leaving you to network.



When you are automatically brought back into the conference room for the start of the conference, you will be asked to turn off your camera and microphone so that the chair can start the forum. During each presentation you will be able to ask questions in the chat box function. The forum will include screen breaks, as well as topic themed interactive sessions which will take place in the breakout rooms.


Click here to view the specially created a 5-minute video that will walk you through how to get the most out of attending your SBK Healthcare interactive online forum.

Certification of attendance


A certificate for Continuing Professional Development will be given to every fully registered participant who completes the course, as a record of your continuing professional training and development.


Registration fees


You will be sent an instant payment option or invoice on registration. Your payment is required in advance. If your fee has not been received prior to the event, and you are not able to provide a PO or proof of payment, you will be asked to make a credit or debit card payment on the day.


Modify registration


To let us know if your details are not correct when you have already registered, please email the bookings team.


Cancellations and substitutions


A full refund of fees will be made only for cancellations received within the first 48 hours of the booking being made. Notice of cancellation must be received in writing by emailing the bookings team at SBK Healthcare. Should you need to cancel your registration after this date, the registration fee remains payable in its entirety although a substitution will be accepted and conference documentation will be provided. Substitution attendees for delegates unable to attend after registering are acceptable at any time.


Event changes


It may be necessary for reasons beyond the control of the conference organisers to alter the content, speakers or the timing of the programme. We will endeavour to keep you abreast of such changes but any unavoidable change to the format will not constitute a reason to refund the fee. Should the event be postponed, we will endeavour to reschedule the event. If, for reasons beyond the control of the conference organiser, the event is cancelled, a full refund will be made. We do not accept any liability for any incurred costs resulting from a postponement or cancellation.


Privacy notice


To view the details on how your data is being collected and used, please view our Privacy policy

Who should attend?

Connect with colleagues supporting adults with diabetes


Join professionals supporting adults with Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes to compare approaches, discuss common consultation challenges and identify practical ways to strengthen support.


Designed for:


  • Diabetes specialist nurses
  • Diabetes team leads
  • Consultant diabetologists and diabetes registrars 
  • Diabetes dietitians 
  • Pharmacists

Past attendee feedback

You asked and we delivered! In response to requests for further training in psychology and behaviour change in diabetes care, this workshop is designed to help you support motivation, improve engagement and respond to diabetes distress through person-centred conversations. Take a look at how much past attendees have enjoyed our diabetes training.

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“A great overview of what frailty with diabetes means, and the tools that could help manage it.”
- Breakthrough T1D, Frailty and Type 1 Diabetes: Optimising Care July 2026
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“Absolutely brilliant workshop”
- University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, Optimising Hybrid Closed Loop Systems: Training Workshops, September 2026
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“Excellent event – broad experience of speakers. Excellent opportunity to network and share ideas”
- Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Advancing Cardio Renal Metabolic Approaches, May 2026
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“Excellent event. Shared learning, increasing knowledge regarding several HCL systems”
- Doncaster and Bassetlaw Hospitals NHS Trust, Optimising Hybrid Closed Loop Systems: Training Workshops, July 2026
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“Excellent day to learn, interact and network”
- Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust, Optimising Hybrid Closed Loop Systems: Training Workshops, July 2026
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“Excellent programme. Thoroughly enjoyed and improved my knowledge and management of T1D”
- North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust, Optimising Hybrid Closed Loop Systems: Training Workshops, October 2026
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“Very well organised event with different speakers and sessions are more practical”
- Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Optimising Hybrid Closed Loop Systems: Training Workshops, October 2026
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“Packed, informative agenda. Practical advice”
- Royal United Hospitals Bath NHS Foundation Trust, Optimising Hybrid Closed Loop Systems: Training Workshops, September 2025

View further comments on SBK Healthcare events on Trust Pilot.

Why sponsor?

Our role at SBK Healthcare is to bring industry together with healthcare professionals so that you can educate and inform your audience. These trail-blazing webinars, conferences and courses offer dedicated presentation, Q&A, networking and discussion time, each sponsor will be fully immersed into the event and able to effectively engage with your NHS audience.

Your event, managed by us

SBK Healthcare also provides in-house forums. Working closely with you as the client we can research, produce, market and deliver the conference or online forum that best suits the audience and meets your goals.

Reach out today

If you would like more information on our sponsorship options, in-house forums or if you wish to discuss your needs and what solutions may be appropriate for your business, please contact: 


Vanessa Jarman
Telephone: 01732 897788 
Email: vanessa.jarman@sbk-healthcare.co.uk