Starting Secondary School with Type 1 Diabetes
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Starting Secondary School with Type 1 diabetes: A co-design approach to identifying and developing strategies for supporting young people with Type 1 diabetes when they transition to secondary school
IRAS ID
255492
Contact name
Angus Forbes
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
King's College London
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
Type 1 diabetes (T1DM) is a prevalent chronic condition in childhood and adolescence. We know that around the time when young people with T1DM start secondary school many begin to disengage from diabetes and their glycaemic control often deteriorates, with potentially detrimental implications for their biopsychosocial health and academic performance. While there are many underlying developmental factors that contribute to this, it is possible that experience of transition to secondary school itself may impact on their: relationship with diabetes; self-management behaviours; and psychosocial well-being. Hence, a proactive intervention at this juncture might help attenuate some of these problems.
When starting secondary school, young people have to: adapt to an unfamiliar institutional culture and learning environment; develop greater personal autonomy; and navigate new peer and teacher relationships. This period also coincides with the onset of puberty and the move towards independent diabetes self-management. In this context, young people with T1DM must manage a condition requiring complex analytical and problem-solving skills, and which can single them out as different from their peers at a time when ‘fitting in’ is a high priority. However, little is known about the experiences of young people with T1DM at this time.Therefore, this project will explore transition to secondary school from the perspectives of young people with T1DM, parents/carers, school staff and healthcare professionals. Participatory methods will be used, based on experience-based co-design, which seeks to empower participants to identify potential areas for intervention and develop supportive strategies to meet their needs. Working together in focus groups, participants will identify, prioritise and refine these strategies to inform modelling of an intervention targeting this transition period. Care has been taken in designing the study to consider how best to engage young people in a supportive way, providing a safe environment for all participants to voice their thoughts.
REC name
London - Surrey Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
19/LO/1165
Date of REC Opinion
22 Jul 2019
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion