P-90: Our son couldn’t wait for each session and was eager to tell US everything he learned and did throughout the session: perspectives of the annual children with diabetes friends for life conference
M Hitchcock, A S Hughes, A Landry, J J Wong, L M JacobsenAbstract
Introduction
Children With Diabetes hosts an annual conference for people with diabetes and their loved ones called Friends for Life. Last year marked the 25th year of Friends for Life, and the conference offered enriching educational sessions on diabetes management, engaging discussion groups, and opportunities for everyone to share their stories.
Objectives
To analyze the impact of Friends for Life programming on social support and diabetes management.
Methods
All attendees were asked to complete the survey to provide feedback on the sessions they attended. One hundred thirty six people completed the survey, of which 73.5% (n = 100) were parents of children with diabetes, 19.1% (n = 26) were adults with diabetes, 2.9% (n = 4) were grandparents of someone with type 1 diabetes, and 2.9% (n = 4) were spouses of someone with type 1 diabetes, and 0.73% (n = 1) was a sibling of someone with type 1 diabetes.
Results
Of 134 respondents, 32.1% completed a type 1 diabetes screening at Friends for Life, which was provided free by exhibitors during the conference. Only 3 participants were parents of a child with early-stage type 1 diabetes who were not yet on insulin. Regarding diabetes management, 82.5% reported that they “agree” or “strongly agree” that they feel more confident in their management after attending Friends for Life. In terms of social support, 93.7% indicated that the support they received at FFL would benefit them beyond the event.
Conclusions
Educational sessions delivered by experienced Children with Diabetes staff and faculty further reinforced these outcomes, highlighting the program’s multidisciplinary expertise and effective approach to patient and family education and empowerment.