Jornal de Leiria – Program prepares professionals to support children with type 1 diabetes

DARE+ (Diabetes: + Support for School Guardians) has already trained and qualified around 100 health professionals from school health teams, mostly nurses, and more than 250 teaching and non-teaching staff from schools in the Leiria region, in a project to community intervention that aims to promote the inclusion of children with type 1 diabetes in the school context.

The project, started in 2013, has the involvement of the Escola Superior de Saúde (ESSLei) of the Polytechnic of Leiria, the Regional Health Administration of the Center (Public Health Unit of the Leiria Region) and the Centro Hospitalar de Leiria (service of Pediatrics), currently the Local Health Unit of the Leiria Region (ULSRL), and aims to guarantee equitable access to education and mitigate the impacts of type 1 diabetes on school inclusion and students’ academic performance, says a press release from the Polytechnic of Leiria.

“The essence of DARE+ lies in training school health teams and the educational community to provide the necessary support to children with type 1 diabetes. Initially, it focuses on training school health teams, enabling them to deal with the specific needs, in a school context, of children with this condition. Subsequently, it expands to involve the entire school community, including non-teaching staff, families and children affected by the condition, to define the individual health plan for students with type 1 diabetes at school. In this way, the project aims to create an inclusive and mutually supportive school environment to guarantee well-being and academic success”, says Eva Menino, teacher at ESSLei and one of the project coordinators, cited in the press release.

This project addresses several topics related to the management of type 1 diabetes and the promotion of school health, such as psychosocial challenges faced by families and children with the condition, strategies for promoting adherence to the therapeutic plan, management of the therapeutic regimen (including insulin therapy, nutrition and physical exercise), self-monitoring and self-control of diabetes, school health intervention and action in cases of acute complications.

In schools, in the training actions promoted by school health teams, with the participation of ESSLei students in the clinical practice component of the bachelor’s and master’s courses, around 250 teachers and non-teachers from schools in the Leiria region have already participated.