A wellbeing project for young people with type 1 diabetes (T1D) has kicked off with community conversations after receiving Embrace funding earlier this year.
The Wellbeing-T1D project aims to create a community-led, trauma-informed program to improve the wellbeing of children and families with a diagnosis of T1D.
Community conversations were held to gain insight into how young people and families affected by T1D want research to be done in this field.
“We believe it is vital to involve community throughout the process of developing research, to ensure our work accurately addresses the needs of the community,” research assistant Rigel Paciente said.
Community members overwhelmingly responded that researchers should be aware of how families are exhausted from having to self-advocate and educate others, including primary health clinicians such as general practitioners.
The community were consulted on two key aspects of the research project.
Next, the Wellbeing-T1D project will hold a series of focus groups with young people living with T1D, parents and professionals working in the field, to learn about the participants’ experiences of being diagnosed and living with T1D, and the potential mental health concerns that arise from it.
This knowledge will then be used to design a program to best support the needs of these families.
Recruitment for the focus groups is expected to begin in early 2024, with the first meetings to take place by March 2024. The project will be completed in 2025.
“We are looking forward to consulting with this community once again to develop an intervention that best meets their needs,” Mx Paciente said.
If you’d like more information on this project, please contact embrace@telethonkids.org.au.
Embrace researchers and community members held conversations on the mental health and wellbeing of young people with type 1 diabetes.
