A young person's perspective of type 1 diabetes: development of an innovative DVD

• Published in: Practical diabetes international 2006-06, Vol.23 (5), p.212-216
• Main Author: Cheyette, C
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: education materials; type 1 diabetes; young people
• ISSN: 1357-8170; 1528-252X
• DOI: 10.1002/pdi.952

In recognition of a lack of suitable and age specific educational material for young people with type 1 diabetes it was decided to develop a new resource for the local area. The author decided on using the multimedia format of a DVD due to its ability to portray images and real life situations. A patient focus group approach was used to establish the main areas to be incorporated within the DVD which, to name a few, included diagnosis, school/college, alcohol, injections and drug use. The same patients then agreed, along with their families, to discuss these areas on camera using a non‐scripted approach. The DVD has been positively evaluated by 21 health care professionals undergoing the Warwick Diabetes Care course. In all, 81% rated it as excellent and 19% as good with no negative feedback. Patient feedback was also sought from 12 patients who had transferred from the paediatric service. This was done in the form of verbal feedback. Patients commented on the DVD showing what living with diabetes is like for ‘ real people’ with the main theme being that ‘ diabetes is just another part of life’. The DVD started out as a small local project but it has since become possible to have 1000 copies produced and these are now available free of charge to all diabetes centres in the UK. Further evaluation of the impact of the DVD for patients and health care professionals is planned. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.