Initial versus ongoing education: Perspectives of people with type 1 diabetes in 13 countries

To understand the perspectives of people with type 1 diabetes with regards to the diabetes education they receive within the health system.

Grounded Theory was used for the collection and analysis of data from interviews with 101 people with type 1 diabetes from 13 countries.

There are two aspects to education, namely initial education received when diagnosed and the ongoing education people continue to receive. Within these two categories content and process of diabetes education are important as are factors linked to the healthcare worker and setting.

Tangible elements are the "what" that is delivered and are the different skills and information needed for people to manage their diabetes. Process elements are the "how" this is delivered. Finally intangible elements are those, which were found to be specific to certain contexts and health professionals. These could be the hardest to replicate, but possibly the most important.

Health systems can provide the tangible elements and organize themselves to have processes in place to deliver education. The challenge is how can the intangible elements be seen as important and developed and delivered to improve management, but also meet the needs of people with diabetes.