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Real Transition Results of a project conducted by Reality Check young adults with diabetes Inc. in partnership with the Royal Melbourne Hospital and
with funding through the Reality Check, an organisation of young adults with diabetes, has been leading a 12-month Federal Government-funded project to research and implement a number of initiatives at a major teaching hospital's diabetes 'Transition Clinic'. The project involved consulting 125 young people who attend the clinic over a 9 month period, and implementing new recommended interventions and resources to the clinic periodically. The
objectives of the project were to: A Reference Group was formed to develop and/or pre-approve all interventions. The Group comprised: •
Associate Professor Peter Colman - Director, Dept of Diabetes and
Endocrinology, Royal Melbourne Hospital At the conclusion of the Project in September 2004, 16 discrete activities had been developed and trialled at the clinic. 1. Text message Reminders of appointments at the clinic sent to mobile phones of patients who agreed to receive them.
2. “Welcome Sheet” published for all
patients which covers: 3. Welcome Sheet published on the adult hospital's website 4. Local Children's Hospital to provide Adult hospital's Welcome Sheet to transitioning late teens/young adults 5. Clinics cancelled at times of known events that would negatively impact attendance, such as "O Week" and "Schoolies Week". 6. Letter with test results and other issues copied to patient 7. Transitioning Out: patients to be provided with information about other clinics in different locations, and contacts and costs of local private services via an "Other Options" Fact Sheet and discussion with doctor. 8. Clinics must also cater to newly-diagnosed young adults – Reality Check’s brand new Starter Kit for Adults Diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes is now a useful resource to have on hand 9. Showbags of new products and information provided to patients in the clinic 10. Non-Diabetes current magazines and today’s newspapers available 11. Library-style set-up of diabetes books and magazines provided for browsing plus access to photocopier 12. Food and Drinks – standing order with local café at a cost of $3/patient
13. Fact Sheets produced and provided on For more Fact Sheets, see Reality Check's HP Resources page.
14. Living with Complications information It has been deminstrated by psychological researchers such as Paula Trief (1998) that fewer complications, therefore shorter duration of diabetes, actually equates to more psychological impact and anxiety about complications. This project identified a need for information about living with complications if they happen, and a writer was commissioned to undertake interviews and compose an article.
Click here to
Download printer-friendly version of commissioned article. 15. Children's Hospital Transition Seminar for late teens/young adults and their parents to focus on relevant issues such as going out, sex and family planning, travel, legal issues, new technologies and research developments, instead of solely profiling adult services 16. Diabetes Nurse Educator who is also a qualified health counsellor meets with patients who are attending the clinic for the first time and works through a prompt sheet of issues (different for male or female) which have been identified informally as common gaps in knowledge at this age. An
abstract with preliminary results of this project was accepted by
the Australian Diabetes Educators Association 2004 conference. For
further information about this project, please contact : This page last updated August 3, 2006
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