Online Educational Resources for Youth Living With Type 1 Diabetes Transitioning to Adult Care: An Environmental Scan of Canadian Content

Objectives: There are many educational resources for adolescents and young adults living with type 1 diabetes; however, it is unknown whether they address the breadth of topics related to transition to adult care. Our aim in this study was to collect educational resources relevant to Canadian youth and assess their quality and comprehensiveness in addressing the knowledge necessary for youth to prepare for interdependent management of their diabetes.

Methods: We conducted an environmental scan, a systematic assessment and analysis, of online education resources in English and French relevant to Canadian youth living with type 1 diabetes. Resources were screened using an open education resource evaluation grid and relevant resources were mapped to the Readiness for Emerging Adults with Diabetes Diagnosed in Youth, a validated diabetes transition readiness assessment tool.

Results: From 44 different sources, 1,245 resources were identified and, of these, 760 were retained for analysis. The majority were webpages (50.1%) and downloadable PDFs (42.4%), and 12.1% were interactive. Most resources covered Diabetes Knowledge (46.0%), Health Behaviour (23.8%), Insulin and Insulin Pump Management (11.8% and 8.6%, respectively), and Health-care System Navigation (9.7%). Topic areas with the fewest resources were disability accommodations (n=5), sexual health/function (n=4), and locating trustworthy diabetes resources (n=3).

Conclusions: There are many resources available for those living with type 1 diabetes preparing to transition to adult care, with the majority pertaining to diabetes knowledge and the least for navigation of the health system. Few resources were available on the topics of substance use, sexual health, and reproductive health. An interactive presentation of these resources, as well as a central repository to house these resources, would improve access for youth and diabetes care providers during transition preparation.