Objective: Parents who have a child newly diagnosed with type 1 diabetes (T1D) must quickly learn daily diabetes self-management. An RCT was conducted using human patient simulation (HPS) to enhance parents learning diabetes self-management with children with new-onset T1D. The purpose of this study was to describe parents' perspectives of using HPS to augment diabetes education.
Methods: A qualitative descriptive design was used with open-ended in-depth interviews of parents (n=49) post-intervention. Qualitative directed content analysis was used.
Results: The majority of parents were positive about learning with HPS. Although a few parents said the HPS was "hokey" or "creepy," most reported the visual and hands-on learning was realistic and very beneficial. Seeing a seizure increased their fear although they would have panicked if they had not had that learning experience, and it helped build their diabetes self-management confidence. Recommendations included teaching others with the HPS (grandparents, siblings, babysitters, and school nurses).
Conclusion: HPS-enhanced education is an acceptable and viable option that was generally well-received by parents of children with new-onset T1D.
Practice implications: The technique should be studied with parents of children with other chronic illnesses to see if the benefits found in this study are applicable to other settings.
Keywords: HPS; Parent education; Simulation; Type 1 diabetes; Vignette.
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