Senior Thesis on Type 1 Diabetes research!

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Hello!

My name is Rachel Miley and I am a senior undergrad psychology major (+ education minor). I have been diabetic for over 15 years and have both gone to diabetes camp, been a counselor for the same camp, and now I am doing my senior thesis related to type one diabetics and their experiences during K-12 education!

The goal of my research is to provide evidence supporting the need for increased diabetes education in our schools, and to determine if more negative social experiences/interactions in K-12 education related to type one diabetes elicit a self-reported response of overall lower health-related quality of life, and vice versa for more positive experiences/interactions = high overall self-reported health-related quality of life.

I have designed a questionnaire inclusive of scale based questions directly related to type 1 diabetes and it’s management that regard various possible interactions with 4 groups in schools: peers, teachers, administrators, and school medical personnel.

I still need to collect many more responses in order to have a sufficient amount of data to be able to publish my results/findings so I need your help!

If you are Type 1 Diabetic, were diagnosed in or before K-12 education, and are over 18, you qualify!! For anyone who is willing to participate, you’ll be helping me kick some education system booty and bring published evidence to light in hopes that I can continue to research in this area and help to develop stronger diabetes education for school systems all over the country. Too often our students struggle with diabetes management and support in schools, and it’s my passion to help improve our support system for not only diabetic students but awareness for students with chronic conditions overall.

Found below is the link to the questionnaire!

https://wooster.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_bOfcBF2cLaSa3zw

If you know anyone else who meets this criteria, feel free to forward the link!

Please please do not hesitate to reach out with any questions, concerns, or comments to the email below:

Rmiley23@wooster.edu

Let’s rock, let’s roll, let’s make some change!

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@Rmiley23 thank you for your research and I wish you all the best! A question: how far back do your want to go? You may want to ask how long participants have been living with diabetes.
Some of us on the forum have been living with it for several decades (this is my 60th year!). Do you want more recent memories? The devices you may be referring to - pumps and CGMs weren’t available back in the day but we may have taken supplies for injection in our latest years of school if you are counting those.

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Hello!

At the end of the questionnaire - there is a portion o indicate current age, and age of diagnosis so I will be able to factor in the differences of experiences between someone who was diagnosed 5 years ago vs who may have been diagnosed 60 years ago. Keep the questions comin!!

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If pumps, and CGMs do not apply - an answer of “neutral” will indicate that is it not applicable. Sadly was not able to include a not applicable option due to the method of data analysis :frowning: I believe a few of the questions in regard to medical supplies may have a more general statement included as “diabetes management” or “diabetes supplies” however most should have a more general scope. Want to be as inclusive as I can - but again, sadly the committee overseeing my research has guided me toward applying this research directly to what situations students in current years May experience - hence the inclusion of topics such as insulin pumps and CGMs.

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@Rmiley23 Hello Rachel, and a warn welcome to the JDRF TypeOneNation Community Forum!

Your thesis is ambitious and admirable and could prove to be very valuable information for community outreach advocates. Please consider sharing you completed study. A very good source for this needed information may be by calling your local JDRF Chapter and asking if there are “Cups of Hope” meetings nearby; if these gatherings are anything like the monthly gatherings I attend, usually two thirds of the attendees are parents / caregivers of school-aged children.

My K - 12 experience in the 1940s and 1950s wouldn’t help your study; diabetes wasn’t discussed with school staff, kept very private.

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No worries about your feelings as though your experiences wouldn’t help - I appreciate even your willingness to read!

As soon as I have completed my thesis, I will be sharing my published work anywhere and everywhere I can with the hopes that as many people as possible will see. I am very excited to see what impact I can make on this community, and to be able to say I did something cool with my undergrad degree!!

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I would love to see this prosper! I am doing the exact same research and movement! The amount of people who’ve told me diabetes is when you get fat and you exercise to get rid of it is ridiculous, unfortunately since I’m only 15 I can’t take the questionnaire (sad face) but I am doing this in my own community in Kentucky where health is not a major concern, and with T1 cases rising, seeing something like this, honestly warms my heart to see more people are trying to do the same thing! I hope to see this go places!

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Sounds like a very interesting study. I’ll read it if you post it up on here when it’s completed.

I can’t participate however cuz I was diagnosed at 19 while already out of high school.

Good luck with the report! :slightly_smiling_face: