Lessons from Schools with High Levels of Support for Students with Type 1 Diabetes: A Qualitative Study

Schools have an important role to play in supporting the psychosocial and physical health of students with Type 1 diabetes (T1D). Good school-based support for students with T1D is related to better diabetes management and quality of life. However, support for students with T1D appears inconsistent across schools in Western Australia. Strategic capacity-building for schools, including attention to policy and practice, is needed to support students with chronic and other health conditions. This project aimed to investigate how schools provide support for the psychosocial wellbeing and disease management of students with T1D. Ten schools, identified by a hospital-to-school transition team as being supportive of students with T1D, participated in this generic qualitative study. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with school staff, students with T1D and their parents at each school. Inductive and deductive thematic analysis identified three overarching themes to encapsulate the various ways schools provided support: (a) school characteristics; (b) interpersonal support; and (c) organisational support, and eleven sub-themes outlined this support. Based on these findings, a conceptual model of support is presented. This can be used as a foundation for a professional learning tool to enhance the capacity of schools to support the wellbeing of students with T1D.