Self Management among Adolescents with type 1 Diabetes in school, V1.0
Research type
Research Study
Full title
School-based Intervention to Enhance Self-Management among Adolescents with Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus
IRAS ID
210934
Contact name
Raya Al Habsi
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Southampton
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 5 months, 2 days
Research summary
Type 1 diabetes Mellitus (T1DM) is a chronic condition that can lead to serious complications in adolescents due to poor metabolic control. As with other adolescents, those with T1DM spend long hours in school. Therefore, they are expected to manage their complex diabetes requirements while they are engaging in other school activities. Self-management is a key component in diabetes care. However, this can be challenging in adolescence, as this period includes physical, social and emotional strains. Adolescents’ self-management of T1DM requires them to check their blood glucose levels on a continual basis, monitor their diet, increase their physical activity, and administer and adjust their insulin dosages. These diabetes-related stressors can cause emotional distress, such as feelings of anxiety and frustration. Stress may affect an adolescent’s ability to perform self-management tasks, resulting in poor metabolic outcomes; consequently, the school setting is a critical environment for adolescents with T1DM. School-based interventions developed to date mainly focused only on improving diabetic education/communication and care coordination for both students with T1DM and school personnel. None of these interventions tackled other aspects such as psychosocial and emotional challenges. Moreover, there was no evidence of including the voice, preferences or priorities of adolescents with T1DM during the development of school-based interventions. The aim of the study is to develop a school-based intervention to promote self-management (i.e., health and emotional management) among adolescents with T1DM by exploring their needs, priorities and preferences with regard to the intended intervention. The proposed sample is adolescents with T1DM who attend secondary school and aged from 11-15years. They will be recruited from University Hospital Southampton NHS Trust, Paediatric Diabetic Clinic. Semi- structured interviews will be carried out with adolescents with T1DM to explore priorities, preferences, and ideas. The intervention will subsequently be developed using the qualitative data regarding the relevant users’ needs that have been collected and analysed. Focus group with adolescents with T1DM aged 11–15 will take place in the diabetic clinic to gain feedback regarding the developed intervention. The findings from the focus group will further inform the intervention revision and modification. Experts will be asked to comment on the developed intervention and will be asked to give any recommendation based on the findings of the study and their expert views.
REC name
East of England - Cambridge East Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
17/EE/0050
Date of REC Opinion
6 Feb 2017
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion