A diabetes education program for school personnel

Since the release of the Diabetes Control and Complications Trial (DCCT), there has been a trend to intensify therapy in children with type1 diabetes even though the trial did not include children of less than 13 years. There has also been a plethora of new diabetes information and technological advances recently. Providing diabetes care, particularly intensive therapy, for the child with diabetes creates a special challenge when insulin and blood glucose monitoring are now needed in school. Regulations in the United States federal laws mandate services for children with disabilities in the school. School personnel must be knowledgeable on new advances and prepared to actively participate in diabetes care. In response to the rapid changes and new information, the Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh Diabetes Center assessed the knowledge level and needs of school personnel and implemented a comprehensive education program. The program was entitled the ‘5 Cs of diabetes’, which highlighted new information in the areas of cause, classification, complications (acute and chronic), care and cure. The program was presented in six school districts (156 school personnel). A ten-item multiple pre- and post-test was administered. Participants showed a statistically significant improvement in knowledge scores. This study demonstrated the need to provide new diabetes information to school personnel and that the ‘5 Cs’ program design was extremely efficacious in educating school personnel.