Helping the Student with Diabetes Succeed: A Guide for School Personnel reflects a consensus from a broad spectrum of federal agencies and leading organizations in the diabetes and education communities on how schools can better meet the needs of students with diabetes.

NDEP’s School Guide contains user-friendly tools, copier-ready action plans, a diabetes primer, and a review of school responsibilities under federal laws. Developed in response to problems faced by students with diabetes, their parents, and school personnel, the guide addresses typical problems such as students who have no one to help them with daily diabetes care tasks (such as checking blood glucose levels or administering insulin) or in the case of a diabetes emergency. Other issues emerge when students are excluded from school events and field trips-or are even told that they are not welcome at a particular school because they have diabetes.

“A school that is knowledgeable about diabetes is a safer school. The School Guide helps both school personnel and parents learn what they need to do to make sure students with diabetes are medically safe and have access to all educational opportunities. It’s a ‘must-have’ for anyone in the school system, or parent of a child with diabetes,” said Francine R. Kaufman, M.D., Chair Elect of the National Diabetes Education Program and Head of the Center for Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Metabolism at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles. Helping the Student with Diabetes Succeed: A Guide for School Personnel sets out a team approach to diabetes management in schools. A comprehensive primer provides information about diabetes and reviews the components for planning and implementing diabetes management in schools. Also included is a section outlining the roles and responsibilities of all key school personnel including school nurses, administrators, teachers, coaches and physical education instructors, bus drivers, lunchroom staff, and guidance counselors, as well as parents and the student with diabetes. The School Guide contains sample medical and emergency planning tools for use in the school setting and provides information about the key federal laws that address schools’ responsibilities to students with diabetes.

For more information about diabetes in young people, and for a free copy of the National Diabetes Education Program’s Helping the Student with Diabetes Succeed: A Guide for School Personnel, visit www.ndep.nih.gov (and download it at http://www.ndep.nih.gov/diabetes/pubs/Youth_NDEPSchoolGuide.pdf [PDF file]) or call 1-800-438-5383.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' National Diabetes Education Program is jointly sponsored by the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention with the support of more than 200 partner organizations.