Bridging the gap: Diabetes: A hands-on classroom guide for educators & schools

According to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) many schools in Indiana lack school personnel and nurses adequately trained to coordinate the necessary care for youth with type 1 diabetes in the school environment. As a result, JDRF has found that some students inadvertently face discrimination, largely due to lack of knowledge about type 1 diabetes and how to care for children living with the disease. The JDRF launched an effort, enlisting the expertise of MPH students from the Indiana University School of Medicine Department of Public Health, to develop a user-friendly, easy-to-understand educational guide for teachers and school staff to address the needs and issues that children with type 1 diabetes face in the school environment. Diabetes: Hands-On Classroom Guide for Educators & Schools is the result of this effort.

Legislation passed in Indiana ensures that public schools are responsive to the medical and education needs of students with diabetes. Spearheaded by the advocacy organizations, students, parents, and the diabetes healthcare community, the act allows school personnel to be trained in diabetes care appropriate for the student and allows students to self manage their disease—routine self-care previously prohibited in some Indiana schools. The Act also establishes that the student's health care team—doctors, parents, and school nurse—develop a diabetes management and treatment plan and that the school's responsibilities are clearly stated.