T1D School e-learning modules win International award
T1D School e-learning modules win International award
Geelong paediatrician Dr Peter Goss was extremely honoured to represent Australia at the annual meeting of the International Society for Paediatric and Adolescent Diabetes (ISPAD) to collect the award as judged by international peers as being the most significant paediatric diabetes innovation in the past year. Even better the award-winning innovation was conceived and created in regional Australia.
That innovation is the T1D e-learning courses for children with diabetes at school.
The idea of applying a proven learning platform to create diabetes courses for school personnel arose because Dr Goss is a general paediatrician who specialises in both allergy and diabetes. General paediatricians have frequent contact and develop close relationships with school personnel though case meetings and school visits for children with learning, behaviour and medical problems. I
Dr Goss noted the success, acceptance and familiarity of the ASCIA anaphylaxis training modules for school personnel. However, anaphylaxis management is simple compared to managing the complex needs of children with Type 1 Diabetes at school, so the challenge was significant.
The situation was urgent. Many parents and clinicians determined that we could not wait any longer for an adjunctive training tool to provide for safe and legal insulin administration in the school environment by non-medically trained (and naturally anxious) school personnel.
With the support of the family of Lou Richards and the Type 1 Foundation, a team of local and international health care professionals, parents, teachers and adolescents living with Type 1 Diabetes accepted that challenge to create the T1D e-learning courses. All had experienced the challenges and traumas of life at school and contributed to the development and shaping of the e-learning modules into a format with appropriate language and content. That wide collaborative input, pilot trials in schools and use of an expert web designer has led to the T1D e-learning courses becoming hugely successful and popular across Australia.
The foundations and framework of the courses are built on best practice ISPAD Clinical Practice Consensus Guidelines and 2018 ISPAD Position Statement on Diabetes in School which are highly appropriate for the Australian education system.
The e-learning modules are free. Over 10,000 courses have been completed by over 5000 registrants. The modules comprise a complete suite of ISPAD recommended levels including
Level 1 - simple generic diabetes information that can be applied to all school personnel
Level 2 - information that augments personalised and individualised training by the treating medical team or parent to school personnel who have direct responsibility for that student
Level 3 - to augment personalised training of the non-medical school staff member on administration of a legislated dangerous drug (insulin).
The T1D e-learning modules are endorsed by ISPAD and the Australian Paediatric Society.