An insulin pump workbook for parents, children and young people

Download: Success Story Summary, Jan 2012 (PDF 235.2KB) / Award Entry Form (PDF 264.1KB)

The challenge 

The paediatric diabetes team at the Leeds Teaching Hospitals had been offering an insulin pump service since 2002 but wanted to harness the learning knowledge they, and the families they worked with, had built up over the years so it could be shared with new families. They decided to produce a workbook that was understandable and useful to parents and to older children/young people (CYP) to share what they knew about insulin pump therapy and ways to maximise control and maintain stable blood sugars. 

Aims

The aims of the project were to:

• enhance the CYP insulin pump pathway particularly for colleagues in the Yorkshire and Humber region but also nationally
  
• facilitate consistent team targets and person focussed care which will ultimately improve health outcomes for CYP
  
• minimise the need for individual teams across the region to develop their own teaching literature for introduction of pumps in children. 

What did they do? 

Firstly the paediatric diabetes team carried out a detailed review of the resources available nationally, including an insulin pump workbook for adults developed by the Diabetes Education Network (DEN). They then undertook a mapping exercise on the content with key stakeholders from the multidisciplinary team. They agreed each section of the workbook should include an interactive element with questions and answers. This is intended to keep CYP motivated and interested in their diabetes decisions regarding their diabetes care.

After writing the content staff and children and young people, and their families, piloted the workbook and provided feedback about areas where they felt additional information, clarity and resources were needed. Parents in particular were very helpful in their suggestions for necessary information that had not been anticipated by the team, for example information about on insurance and holidays. The team were then able to finalise the content of the workbook and print final copies 

What happened? 

Feedback has been overwhelmingly positive with families / carers and CYP with type 1 diabetes reporting they can learn at their own pace and reinforce existing learning as their children’s needs change and develop over time. Parents and/or children can introduce different levels of expertise a rate they feel confident with. One of the insulin pump companies has agreed to an unrestricted educational grant to fund the editing and unrestricted publication of the workbook. This will be made available in the first instance to all teams in the Yorkshire and Humber and then potentially nationally with the desired and intended outcome of improving the health care outcomes for all CYP and their families and carers regardless of which insulin pump they choose.

Key outcomes

• Awarded an unrestricted grant to write, edit and produce the workbook - The Leeds Insulin Pump Workbook for Children and Young People (PDF 5.1MB)
• Positive feedback from parents, children and young people about improved learning and confidence in using their pump