Case Study: Thomas becomes unwell

Tom had been settling well into term 2 of year 4 when he became unwell and soon after diagnosed with type 1 diabetes.  He is keen to get back to school to see his friends and play weekend sport as soon as he could.

The clinical treating team will work with the family to prepare a diabetes management plan for the school.  This outlines when Tom needs to check his glucose levels and when and what level of support he needs to take his insulin.  The plan also had an easy to follow action plan if Tom’s blood glucose is out of target range listing what his symptoms are and treatment is.

A meeting with the school, key staff and Tom’s family was arranged.  The meeting was a little overwhelming for the parents as they are only learning about type 1 diabetes themselves. The diabetes management plan highlighted to the school just how much Tom would need to do each day to manage his type 1 diabetes.  The principal also acknowledged that his current staff has little experience in type 1 diabetes and they would require training.

It was agreed that Tom’s parents would come into school at lunch time to help Tom until the teachers had completed their training and felt confident to help Tom.  The school will arrange online training for the whole staff group to complete as soon as possible on type 1 diabetes. Several designated staff that teach Tom are booked into additional training to learn about practical daily management and how to use his individualised diabetes management plan.

>> More information about Diabetes Management plans at school