Abstract
The high incidence of Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus (DM1) increases the likelihood of teachers having students with this illness in their classrooms. The objective of this study is to investigate the needs of students with DM1 during the school day from the perspective of both teachers and parents. A mixed methods study was designed and a questionnaire was administered to practicing teachers in Pre-primary Education, Primary Education, Compulsory Secondary Education, and Further Education, as well as Vocational Education within both the province and the city of Burgos (Castile and Leon, Spain) who may have students with DM1. Semi-structured interviews were also conducted with mothers and fathers, members of the Burgos Diabetics Association (ASDIBUR). In the questionnaires administered to the teaching staff, 54.8% affirmed that they knew of students with DM1 at their centers. Of those questioned, 51.2% affirmed that they knew of the existence of action protocols on DM, and 45.2% declared that they had received specialized information on the illness; 92.8% believed that there was no discrimination at their center towards students with DM, and 82.8% thought that the educational center raised no objections to students with DM departing on trips during the school year. In their interviews, both family and teachers assessed the material and human resources as insufficient and called for the presence of school nurses at the educational centers. It is important to raise the awareness of the educational community about the needs of students with DM1 and to provide guidelines on emergency situations to teachers and staff at the centers.
Highlights
Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus (DM1), diabetes is a chronic degenerative metabolic illness, due to the destruction of the insulin-producing beta cells [1,2]
Qualitative interviews were individually conducted with 11 teachers from Pre-primary and Primary Education, Compulsory Secondary and Further Education and Vocational Training, four women and seven men, from public sector and state-aided educational centers within the province of Burgos, who have had students with diabetes in their classrooms, with the exception of two, and who had between 3 and 22 years of teaching experience; and 10 mothers and 5 fathers of children with DM1, between 5 and 18 years old, attending classes at these educational centers in all levels of education
One teacher said: “Yes, it affects [the student] in the sense that the time spent outside the center means, well, that the student loses the habitual pace of the classes. ( . . . ) It may demotivate them” (Teacher 1)
Summary
Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus (DM1), diabetes is a chronic degenerative metabolic illness, due to the destruction of the insulin-producing beta cells [1,2]. The majority of adults, children, and adolescents with DM1 should be treated with daily insulin injections or with insulin pumps. Around one third are diagnosed as diabetic ketoacidosis. Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (DM2), with its onset in early adulthood, is characterized by a progressive loss of β-cell insulin secretion frequently on the background of insulin resistance. The onset of the illness is gradual and the symptoms, similar to those of DM1 are usually less intense. It affects 90–95% of people suffering from DM [3]
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