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Volume 2: No. 2, April 2005
SPECIAL TOPICS
ORIGINAL RESEARCH: FEATURED
ABSTRACT FROM THE 19TH NATIONAL CONFERENCE ON CHRONIC DISEASE
PREVENTION AND CONTROL
Diabetes Awareness, Training, and Action Program: North Carolina’s Response to the Care of School Children
With Diabetes Law
Paula Hudson Collins
Suggested citation for this article: Collins PH. Diabetes Awareness,
Training, and Action Program: North Carolina’s response to the Care of School
Children with Diabetes Law [abstract]. Prev Chronic Dis [serial online] 2005 Apr [date cited]. Available from: URL: http://www.cdc.gov/pcd/issues/2005/
apr/04_0142cc.htm.
PEER REVIEWED
Track: Policy and Legal
In the fall of 2002, the Care of School Children with Diabetes Act was signed into law in
the state of North Carolina. This law requires that all children with diabetes who are enrolled in any of the state’s public schools have an Individual Diabetes Care Plan
available upon a parent’s request. The law also requires that schools
enrolling children with diabetes provide
general training on diabetes and its management for all faculty and support staff and two volunteer emergency care providers for students with diabetes.
To respond to the law, the North Carolina (NC) Department of Public Instruction, NC Department of Health and Human Services, NC Diabetes Advisory Council, American Diabetes Association, Wake Forest Baptist University Medical Center, Wake Area Health Education Centers, BlueCross BlueShield of NC Foundation, NC Healthy Schools, and the
Diabetes Prevention and Control Branch of NC Public Health
worked together to create the Diabetes Awareness, Training, and Action (DATA)
Program. The DATA Program involved developing and producing training materials, designing and implementing six regional trainings across the state using a
“train-the-trainer” model, seeking private funding for the project, developing the individual care plans and all reporting forms, informing parents, and preparing
evaluation reports for various state agencies.
As a result of the DATA Program, all students with diabetes in
North Carolina have a plan of care in place, which is determined by the primary care provider, school, and parent. Emergencies
because of diabetes have decreased, and general awareness and acceptance of procedures related to diabetes control are better understood, accepted, and
monitored in the school setting. The increased interaction among school
personnel, medical personnel, and parents, especially parents of children in
homes experiencing health disparities, have yielded the unintended benefits of
improved communication and collaboration among these groups. In addition, this
cooperative spirit has encouraged the community to work through doctors’ offices
as well as public health clinics to make this diabetes information readily
available to families that might not otherwise have the means to access health
care.
An Individual Health Care Plan should be in place for children with any type of health care need. While the management of diabetes in children was the test case in North Carolina, children with any chronic condition should have access to care plans
to avoid the need for a state law that relates to just one chronic condition.
Corresponding Author: Paula Hudson Collins, MHDL, RHEd, Senior Advisor for Healthy Schools, North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, 6349 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, NC 27699-6349. Telephone: 919-807-3859. Email: pcollins@dpi.state.nc.us.
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