Empowering Adolescents, Young Adults & Their Families to Effectively Manage Diabetes

Objective:To increase attendee knowledge about working with youth who have diabetes.  Emphasis will be placed on improving the transition process from the pediatric to adult medical care, helping schools provide a safe environment for children with diabetes to learn, and on tools for promoting self-care for Hispanic/Latino teens and their families. The presentation will introduce new NDEP publications that address the needs of youth and their families:   

Methods:These new NDEP materials and resources for youth, young adults, families, health care professionals, school personnel, and community health workers were developed by a team of experts after extensive research into the subject matter.  As they were developed, focus group testing provided insight and direction, and later pre-testing helped fine-tune the products to meet the needs of the target audiences.    

Results:Use of online transition resources will help young adults and their families take steps toward a smooth transition to adulthood. The School Guide will help youth remain safe in school. The bilingual resources will help Hispanic/Latino youth and their families implement healthy diabetes self-care practices.  

Conclusion:Youth with diabetes and their families, and the health care professionals who provide them care, will be empowered to improve the transition process, implement safe and effective diabetes care in schools, and learn healthy diabetes management practices.