JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Nemours Children’s Health System researchers have been awarded a $1.8 million grant for a research study that seeks to improve family management of diabetes in adolescents.
Only 21 percent of adolescents with Type 1 diabetes maintain the recommended A1C levels, according to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. Not maintaining their recommended levels can lead to psychological and behavioral problems, researchers said.
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The National Institutes of Health awarded the researchers a grant to develop and test a new Transdisciplinary Care Model, where an advanced practice nurse, psychologist, and dietitian will work together with the patient either in-person or through virtual, telemedicine visits to improve family management of diabetes.
The idea is that with a shortage of endocrinologists, new teams of healthcare professionals will need to work together to help adolescents manage their diabetes.
“The shortage of endocrinologists has been emphasized by the increase of diabetes, specifically type 1, among our youth,” said Dr. Wysocki, co-director of the Center for Health Care Delivery Science at Nemours in Jacksonville and principal investigator of the three-year project. “With the supply of new endocrinologists being outstripped, it won’t be possible for diabetes patients to be seen by endocrinologists at every visit.”
The study, titled Transdisciplinary Versus Usual Care for Type 1 Diabetes in Adolescence, will focus on addressing adolescent struggles with management of the disease.
There will be 150 patients participating in the trial at Nemours practices in the Delaware Valley and Florida.