Introduction
As young adults with T1DM progress through life transitions, they must adapt the way they live with the condition while managing competing commitments. Currently, there are limited diabetes education programs and services that address the needs of young adults with T1DM as they progress through these life transitions.
Objectives
To pilot and evaluate the Diabetes Youth, Empowerment and Support (Diabetes YES) mHealth program developed to address the diabetes education program and service needs of Australian young adults aged between 18 and 35 years with T1DM.
Methods
Over 12 weeks, participants were provided access to the Diabetes YES program, which consisted of a website and a moderated Facebook peer support group. Common themes were identified and categorised from open-ended responses from the evaluation survey.
Results
Evaluation findings from 34 participants found that the overall Diabetes YES program helped participants to navigate through life transitions. Through shared experiences on the Facebook group, participants felt emotionally validated and gained practical insight around various diabetes management options. The Facebook group also allowed participants to gain real-time responses to diabetes-related questions. In turn, participants felt emotionally supported; less isolated and gained motivation towards their self-management. Participants valued the website for its credible, easy to understand and up-to-date diabetes-related information, which supplemented knowledge obtained from healthcare professionals. However, participants were less likely to return to the website after initial visits as they forgot about the site or had no reason to access it. In contrast, the Facebook group provided notifications for new posts and weekly discussion topics to encourage member engagement.
Conclusions
The Diabetes YES program provided ongoing emotional support and informational resources specific to young adults with T1DM as they progressed through life transitions. mHealth tools have potential to be valuable resources for young adults with T1DM when used in conjunction with clinical support.