59-LB: Patient-to-Peer Education—An Unconventional Prescription for Teens with Type 1 Diabetes

Introduction: Type 1 diabetes (T1D) is a chronic condition affecting nearly 200,000 youths in the US with increasing incidence. There is often decreased adherence to therapy in adolescents because of challenges in managing T1D combined with social and metabolic changes. Therefore, addressing the individual and social factors affecting treatment is essential in teens with T1D. To date, scant research exists on how to improve patient’s self-care in the context of their relationships to peers without T1D. Objectives: We aimed to test feasibility of a brief socio-educational intervention designed to improve patient perceived social support, diabetes self-care behaviors, and glycemic levels among teens with T1D. Methods: A medical student encouraged participants to 1) develop a SMART goal for improving self-care of T1D, 2) recruit peers without T1D to help achieve the goal, and 3) educate peers on the goal’s importance to their health. Participants were surveyed prior to goalsetting and 3-4 months post-intervention to assess social support, self-care, self-efficacy, and intervention acceptability; measures of glycemia were also gathered from the EMR. Thematic analysis of participant goals and plans with peers was performed. Results: All 13 participants who attended an info meeting consented to join the study; 8 completed study surveys. On average, there was a 0.9% decrease in HbA1c among the small cohort. Survey results reflect participants were satisfied with the intervention and were more interested in working with others to care for their T1D. Thematic analysis revealed teens primarily wanted assistance, reminders, and encouragement from peers for completing their T1D self-care goals. Conclusions: This intervention is a potentially low cost and feasible tool that may improve teens with T1Ds’ perceived social support, diabetes knowledge, treatment adherence, and overall health. More research into the effects of encouraging positive patient-peer interactions is warranted.