Effectiveness of a diabetes educational intervention at primary school

Abstract

Background Brazil ranks fifth in the world in the number of adults with diabetes, and third for type 1 diabetes. Conducting educational actions on this topic in public schools in this country is extremely important, since it can assist in the early adoption of good life habits and in a better care for students in this condition.Objective The aim of this study was to assess the effectiveness of an educational intervention about diabetes for students and school staff. Methods This is an interventional non-randomized longitudinal study, in which interviews were conducted before and after a playful intervention with the use of theater play and games for students and plus a training for the school staff. Results A total of 89 participants completed the study, being 73 students aged 7 to 12 years old, and 16 school staff. As a result, there was a positive change in knowledge and perception of diabetes by the students. The greatest changes in the answers among the participants, at the post-intervention period, were related to the possibility of consuming something with sugar by those with diabetes, and particularly how to cope in hypoglycemia situations by the school staff. Conclusions Actions like these must be encouraged within the school environment, especially in countries with high prevalence of diabetes.

(Des)conhecimento do diabetes nas escolas: percepção de crianças e adolescentes

“…As dificuldades de manejo do DM1 na escola justificam a necessidade de desenvolver estratégias que promovam a saúde e a qualidade de vida no ambiente escolar frente ao DM1. Nesse contexto destacamos a importância da promoção lúdica da educação em diabetes para o público infanto-juvenil dentro das escolas, como no caso do material desenvolvido pelo programa KiDS (IDF, 2019b) bem como o treinamento das equipes escolares, que já vem sendo realizado pelos Centro de Referência Diabetes nas Escolas (REIS et al, 2018;MOURÃO et al, 2022). Essas ações visam tornar a escola um ambiente mais seguro e acolhedor (BECHARA et al, 2018), onde os colegas e funcionários possam ser uma fonte de apoio e suporte para crianças e adolescentes com DM1.…”

Perception and Attitudes of School Teachers about The Preparation of Their Schools for Dealing with Type 1 Diabetic‏ Male Students in Al-Madinah City, Saudi Arabia

“…In Spain, only 36.9 percent of the surveyed teachers had sufficient basic knowledge about diabetes. Nonetheless, other studies strongly advocated for a training program for teachers to improve their diabetes knowledge after observing relatively low levels of knowledge (23,24) .…”

The Impact of educational intervention on knowledge about diabetes mellitus among Indonesian high school students

“…The Brazilian study also promoted health education in public schools and evaluated the effectiveness of diabetes interventions in the school environment. This study led to essential changes in the knowledge and perceptions of students, with significant changes related to hypoglycemia and sugar intake by people with diabetes [8].…”

“…Numerous studies have demonstrated that children and teenagers with T1DM experience shame and embarrassment when administering insulin and checking their blood sugar levels, both inside and outside of schools. Since numerous daily doses of insulin have long been an effective T1DM treatment, it is typically necessary to apply at least one dosage at school, particularly before meals [8].. Patients with diabetes who did physical activities and exercise got better results.…”

“…Questionnaire used was divided into four sections; Section A collects demographic data of the participants including age, gender, ethnic, and history of family with DM, Section B contained 6 questions regarding diabetes general knowledge, Section C had 6 questions of diabetes signs and symptoms, and Section D contained 7 questions of diabetes mellitus management. The question used in the questionnaire was modified from previous literature [8]. The questionnaire used a closed-ended question with a single word answer as "yes", "no" and "don't know".…”