Getting Educated About Type 1 Diabetes

When someone is diagnosed with type 1 diabetes (juvenile diabetes), the entire family is often overwhelmed. There is so much to learn so quickly. If you are the parent of a child with type 1 diabetes, how you deal with the disease will affect how your child deals with it. The more you know, the better equipped you are to help your child. Life with type 1 diabetes means not only learning about management and care, but also recognizing and dealing with the emotions and stresses that affect every family.

Many insurance plans, including Medicare, now reimburse for type 1 diabetes education. Classes are often offered by hospitals or clinics on an inpatient or outpatient basis and are taught by a Certified Diabetes Educator (CDE), who may be a nurse, dietitian, pharmacist, or other qualified health professional.

Our resources section also references a number of excellent educational resources.

a word about complications

People with type 1 diabetes should be checked regularly for signs of complications. Long-term type 1 diabetes can lead to complications that affect the eyes, nerves, kidneys, and cardiovascular system. Type 1 diabetes also leads to complications in pregnancies. Many of these complications can be reduced or delayed with good control of blood glucose and attentive medical care.

JDRF's mission is to cure type 1 diabetes and its complications through research--in fact, one of JDRF's missions over the next five years is to create new approaches and therapies to predict, prevent, and reverse complications.

Hope for the future
Personal stories
JDRF-funded diabetes research

support and resources

Bag of Hope

JDRF's Bag of Hope program is a free resource which provides information and support to families with children who are newly diagnosed with type 1 or new to JDRF.

LEARN MORE >

Mentors

Mentors are volunteers who provide one-on-one support to families and individuals who are newly diagnosed with type 1 diabetes.

LEARN MORE >

School Advisotry Toolkit

All students with type 1 diabetes (juvenile diabetes) need a strong support network at school to help them properly manage their type 1 diabetes on a daily basis. Cultivating good relationships with school staff is key. JDRF has developed a new resource to support and empower families as they communicate with school staff throughout the year.

REQUEST THE FREE TOOLKIT >

Adult Type 1 Toolkit

JDRF recognizes that children with type 1 diabetes don't outgrow the disease, and that more and more adults are being diagnosed with type 1 everyday. The Adult Type 1 Toolkit was created to provide helpful, practical information specifically for adults with type 1.

REQUEST THE FREE TOOLKIT >

Clincial Trials Connection

To help you better understand what is involved in participating in a clinical trial, and to simplify the process of finding trials that are of interest to you (or your child), JDRF has created an online customized clinical trials listing service - the JDRF Clinical Trials Connection.

LEARN MORE >

JDRF E-publications

JDRF offers a variety of local and national e-publications to help you stay connected to the information you care about.

SUBSCRIBE TODAY >