Parents of Teens With Diabetes: Tips for Moving from Pediatric to Adult Health Care

Moving from teenage years to adulthood can be stressful for teens with diabetes and their families. Teens and young adults need to take on more diabetes tasks and make more judgments about their health care needs. At the same time, young adults face more pressure in their social lives and at school or work. Young adults living away from home for the first time may have a new doctor and health care team—or no doctor at all.

These challenges can result in poor diabetes care and medical problems that young adults will need to handle on their own. As more young people develop diabetes, their ongoing health care needs will need to be addressed by the adult health care team.

There is good news. New tools can help young adults with diabetes manage their diabetes and health care. The National Diabetes Education Program (NDEP)—a program of the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and revention, and more than 200 public and private partners—has created an online tool, “Transitions from Pediatric to Adult Heath Care,” with resources to help the young adult, their family, and their health care team who provide them with health care.

Tips for Success

How can parents prepare their teenagers to manage their diabetes care as they go off on their own? Here are several tips for success:

1. Start getting ready at least one to two years in advance. The NDEP tool has a “Transition Planning Checklist” that helps the health care team, the young adult, and the family prepare.

2. Help young people become active partners in their health. As young adults take on a bigger role when it comes to their health and wellbeing, they need to be prepared to manage their diabetes in many types of situations such as when they travel or during an illness. They must know how to prevent and/or manage any diabetes crises.

3. Prepare a summary of the teen’s health status. NDEP provides a “Clinical Summary” resource that their current health care team and the family can fill out and provide to the new health care team.

4. Encourage your child to seek support from other young people with diabetes. NDEP’s online tool provides a list of online discussion groups, forums, and message boards.

5. Find support for yourself. Parent support groups and resources can help you cope with the changes while you learn to support your child.

6. Locate adult health care professionals and insurance options. NDEP’s tool contains information on how to find a doctor, dietitian, or education program. In addition, you can find local health clinics that are either free or not costly.

Parents play a key role in helping their older teenagers get ready for life as adults. With thoughtful planning, your child can live independently with diabetes—and thrive.

For more information, visit the National Diabetes Education Program (NDEP) website, www.YourDiabetesInfo.org/Transitions.