Endocrine Abstracts

The SKIP Course – A STRUCTURED KNOWLEDGE and INFORMATION PROGRAMME – An education programme specifically designed to meet the educational needs of the young person with Type 1 Diabetes and their family. The structured curriculum of the ‘SKIP’ course enables those attending develop their knowledge and skills and improve day to day self-care of their diabetes, in an interactive process with the diabetes team and other families, to achieve good glycaemic control and help to improve long-term outcomes and thereby reducing the risk of adverse effects and complications.

NICE requires an HbA1c of less than 7.5% (IFCC 58 mmol/mol) to indicate good control of diabetes. In our centre patients and families have previously received education in managing self-care of diabetes on an individual basis. The need for a new approach to patient education was identified in an earlier research study undertaken by the PDSN team where parents expressed a desire for additional education projects and diabetes updates, including opportunities to meet with other families with similar experiences.

Recommendations from the National Service Framework (NSF Standard 3 2001/2002) and NICE guidelines advise the use of Structured Education Programme Models to empower patients and teach them how to manage self-care of their diabetes. Key criteria of such a programme demands an evidence-based, structured curriculum which is flexible, quality assured, dynamic and auditable (DoH NICE 2005). Furthermore, Standard 6 of the Children’s NSF states ‘all children, young people and their families should have an opportunity to become ‘expert patients’ developing effective self-management skills’.

The programme has been designed to provide knowledge and information to build on the one-to-one Care Plan and education all parents and children receive from the Diabetes Team on diagnosis prior to discharge from hospital.

The PDSN and Dietitian deliver the programme in a group setting to the young people and adult participants.

Each session is structured to ensure consistency in subject matter, level of information, timing and presentation. The programme is interactive with an emphasis on the use of visual aids; anatomical models, food maps, and written information including quizzes and games to illustrate clinical scenarios and role play are all used to reinforce the diabetes education.