The Development and Testing of MyT1DHope—A Website for Parents of Children with Type 1 Diabetes

Abstract

Background: Caring for a child with type 1 diabetes (T1D) may be stressful for the entire family. Management is complex and requires parents to take on this complex responsibility. As a result, parents are at risk of being diagnosed with depression and anxiety, and may experience feelings of isolation. Diabetes education and support group involvement can lead to successful adjustment to life with a child with T1D. Websites have the ability to provide this type of support, and many T1D websites exist. However, a well-organized, parent-focused tool with social support capabilities is needed. Objective: The objective of this study was to develop and conduct a randomized controlled pilot test of a website, MyT1DHope, for parents of children with T1D. Methods: Once the website was developed, participants were recruited through a Michigan family network, to begin the 8-week testing. Participants (N=102) were randomly assigned to receive access to our website (n=51) or receive a PDF packet (n=51) on T1D. All participants were assessed pre- and post-intervention on validated measures of parents’ diabetes knowledge, health literacy, social support, self-efficacy, quality of life as well as usability and acceptability of the website. Results: Our concept for the website was well received by participants in the formative research phases. Specifically, parents stated a need for a “one-stop-shop” for all information a parent with a child with T1D may need and to organize that information by stages of the child’s development. Our preliminary results suggest that parents in both groups started the study with high diabetes knowledge, social support, self-efficacy, and quality of life. Data analysis of the 8-week pilot test is ongoing. Conclusion: Many websites exist with the purpose of providing information to those impacted by T1D. This paper reports results of testing a website, MyT1DHope, for parents with children with T1D. MyT1DHope has the potential to improve the lives of parents caring for a child with T1D. Disclosure B. Holtz: None. K. Murray: None. D. Hershey: None. A.K. Nuttall: None. S. Cotten: None. T. Park: None. J.K. Dunneback: None. M.A. Wood: Research Support; Self; Medtronic MiniMed, Inc..