Two new groundbreaking educational video/DVDs, to assist primary and secondary teachers and parents with the management of students with Type 1 diabetes, was recently launched by Parliamentary Secretary, Education, the Hon. Liz Beattie MP at The Royal Children’s Hospital.

The new resource, comprised of two separate videos, has been designed to highlight the day-to-day diabetes management issues and prompt discussion between parents and teachers about their differing expectations of each other when it comes to the care of the student with diabetes.  Both videos share the same broad themes, however many of the issues discussed in the primary school version are different to those facing secondary schools.

In Australia, approximately 1 in every 1,000 students under the age of 15 is living with Type 1 diabetes.  For teachers this means that, at some point in their career, it is likely that they will be responsible for a student with diabetes whether in the classroom, on a school excursion or at camp.

In ‘Loco Parentis’*, teachers put forward their observations about the dramatic changes in the teaching profession, especially when it involves students with a medical condition, and discuss the definition of ‘Duty of Care’ as it relates to diabetes.

Parents express their concerns about the limited understanding of diabetes within the school community and the anxiety they face when having to entrust a school with the care of their diabetic child for long periods of time.

Using humourous and dramatic role plays, excerpts from focus group sessions conducted at the hospital, and comments from health professionals, ‘Loco Parentis’ puts forward a variety of useful management strategies for teachers while also addressing smaller issues such as lunchtime eating policies, the affect sport and stress during exams can have on blood sugar levels and body image.

‘Loco Parentis’ has been produced by Joanna Griggs of ERC Media at the Royal Children’s Hospital’s Education Resource Centre with assistance from the Department of Endocrinology and Diabetes led by Dr Fergus Cameron.

The videos are the third installment in a planned series of six videos addressing issues specific to children and teenagers with diabetes.  The first in the series ‘keep your life ONLINE – Teenager & Young Adults Living Positively with Diabetes’ has received a number of international media awards.  The second video, ‘Here We Go ’round the Mulberry Bush – Positive Parenting of Toddlers with Diabetes’ is being successfully distributed by the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation to parents with newly diagnosed toddlers.
 
‘Loco Parentis’ is available for purchase by primary and secondary schools and parents throughout Australia online at www.rch.org.au/erc/video/ or by calling  9345 5477.  The purchase price is $44 per video (including GST & Postage).

WHAT:    Launch of ‘Loco Parentis’
WHEN:    Wednesday 20 October, 2004 at 10.30am
WHERE:  Ella Latham Foyer, Level 1, The Royal Children’s Hospital

Picture/Interview opportunities:
Interviews and picture opportunities with diabetes specialist, Dr Fergus Cameron, and Genevieve Lakey, a Year 9 student with diabetes.

FOR MEDIA ENQUIRIES, PLEASE CONTACT KATE STRONACH, PUBLIC AFFAIRS, THE ROYAL CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL, 9345 5882 OR 0403 806 052. 

*The video’s title ‘Loco Parentis’ is drawn from a disused legal term ‘in loco parentis’ meaning ‘in place of parents’, a phrase used to describe the temporary guardianship a teacher undertakes whilst a child is at school.  ‘Duty of Care’ is now a more commonly used term.

This event received the following media coverage:

• Channel 9  News
• The Age – Education Supplement
• Sky News Australia
• Progress Leader