Our blog post this week is from Dr. Deirdre Walsh from the D1 Now Research programme. Some of you may have met Deirdre at Thriveabetes. D1 Now is a Health Research Board (HRB) funded research project which is aimed at improving engagement between young adults with Type 1 Diabetes and their healthcare providers and ultimately improve their self management and diabetes-related health outcomes.

D1 Now aims to improve engagement between young adults with Type 1 Diabetes and their healthcare providers and ultimately improve their self management and diabetes-related health outcomes.

 

I first came across D1 Now in June 2016 at its launch and have met some of the members of the young adults with type 1 diabetes panel. This initiative stems from the "Nothing about us, without us" ethos. The panel are introduced to how the world of research works and are an integral part of designing research in the type 1 diabetes area.

 

 

The importance of the D1 Now Young Adults with Type 1 Diabetes Panel- Be a part of it!!

By Dr. Deirdre Walsh, D1 Now programme manager, on behalf of the D1 Now team.

Sitting down to write this piece I wanted to reflect on why we are asking people to get involved and be a part of our D1 Now research team. I have been tweeting and shouting about Young Adult Panel information sessions for several weeks now-but why?

The ‘why’ is a no-brainer for me; as part of a research team engaged within the health service it is imperative that we engage fully with people who use this health service. The aim of D1 Now is to improve positive outcomes for young adults [18-25 years old] who are living with Type 1 Diabetes.

Unfortunately, existing evidence show a lack of high-quality, well-designed interventions aimed at improving health outcomes for young adults with Type 1 diabetes. To address this issue, our multidisciplinary D1 Now team at the School of Medicine, NUI Galway led by Prof. Séan Dinneen have been working since 2014 to develop a new intervention to reimagine diabetes care for young adults. Simple? Not so much!

Improving outcomes for young adults is not an easy task, as many of you know, dealing with Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) requires an intensive self-management routine. This is especially challenging in times of transition when diabetes is one of many demands on time, effort and headspace.

When the D1 Now Young Adult Panel (YAP) was formed several years ago, the team made a commitment to involving young adults at every step. Regular YAP meetings, conference participation, speaking at events, involvement in journal articles and funding applications- the YAP have been there at every step to guide and help build a new way of approaching this issue.

There are several reasons why D1 Now would not be the same without the Young Adult Panel. Many of the D1 Now team are researchers working in the area of Type 1 diabetes but have never lived with the condition. We do not have the lived experience of Type 1 Diabetes.

As a research team we knew we wanted to make a commitment to ensure that young adults are at the centre of discussion around their care and shaping the way forward. Their involvement has led to a better understanding of what needs to be achieved in order to improve health service delivery in terms of responding to the specific needs of young adults.

Moving forward, we want to extend our young adult panel to the east coast, but in order to do this we need your help. If you are 18-25 years old living with Type 1 Diabetes and interested in having a say please join us at our next D1 Now information evening at the Psychological Society of Ireland office in Dublin on March 14th @6pm. If you can’t make it, feel free to contact us via Twitter, Facebook or email.

The D1 Now team are funded through the Health Research Board's Definitive Interventions and Feasibility Awards grant.

Website: www.d1now.ie Twitter: @d1now.ie Facebook: D1 Now