Working with families who have school-age children with type 1 diabetes

Abstract

Families of school-age children who suffer from type 1 diabetes are always in need of a special care and support. Reaching of diabetic control in those children without having hypoglycemia or limitating their daily activities have a burly emotional impact and can give rise to many of the mental illnesses on their parents. Children with type 1 diabetes are always in need of a high degree of attention and organization inside and outside the house, especially at school. To apply the concept of family system theory on school-age children with type 1 diabetes; explore the biopsychosocial impact of having school-age children with type 1 diabetes on the family; and implement a family-centered group education program for families of school-age children with type 1 diabetes, reviewing of the topics from different directions that related to concerns of the parents and teachers and its psychosocial impact was carried out. The role of the school nurses in making a link between the children with type I diabetes, parents, teachers, and hospital was also emphasized. Searching evidence for relating researches and their important conclusions was also done. The prevalence of parental psychological distress across all the studies ranged from 10% to 74%, with an average of 33.5% of parents reporting distress at diagnosis and 19% of parents reporting distress 1 to 4 years after diagnosis. Parental psychological distress also had negative effects on diabetes management. Furthermore, studies indicated that there are relationships between the child’s chronic and marital communication, between the child’s disease and parental attitudes, and, thus, between the disease and the functioning of the whole family system. Many studies have proved that the development of special strategies for the families of school-age children with type 1 diabetes such as communicate with other families, give joint appointments, family-centered interventions programs, and screening for mental illness is very important to make a healthy and productive family.