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Elements of creative therapy in education of primary school pupils on type 1 diabetes.

Background and aims: The critical period for children with diabetes mellitus is early school age when they start their own care and control of the disease. These children are part of the school’s social environment that can have a positive or negative impact on their social development. The aim of this study was to: (1) assess the knowledge and awareness of a healthy primary school population about type 1 diabetes and (2) implement and evaluate a creative- educational workshop for primary school lower grades pupils about type 1 diabetes. Method: Participants were healthy primary school pupils (n = 84) aged 6 to 11 years. For this research, the Questionnaire for the Assessment of Knowledge and Awareness of Diabetes in Primary School Population was developed and applied before the workshop and one month after it. The workshop comprised an application of art techniques (storytelling, drama, movement) with the goal of elaborating the metaphorical content about the relationships between Rino, a little bear who has diabetes, and his animal friends, who show different reactions to his disease. Results: In the initial assessment, the pupils showed low and moderate knowledge about the name, signs, and infectiousness of diabetes, the definition of insulin and glucose, and procedures in case of hypoglycemia. All evaluated items on the awareness of social issues of diabetes had a high percentage in the zone of positive attitudes. One month after the workshop, there was a significant increase in the reported knowledge and in the more positive perception of pupils with diabetes. Conclusion: These results confirm the value of development of new educational and therapeutic methods with the goal of enhancing knowledge and awareness of type I diabetes among the healthy school population and thus improving the quality of life of their peers with diabetes.

Type 1 diabetes, creative therapy, psychosocial support, evaluation

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