When a child is diagnosed in the Yukon, they usually get a lot of great help through BC Children’s Hospital. Credit is given where credit is due, and the Yukon Government did a lot of good when it brought in a child endocrinologist on rotation. So when families need help, they can reach out to the good folk at BC Children’s. However, life doesn’t revolve around a provincial hospital and kids in the Yukon need support. In particular, they need support in school.
Whether someone is diagnosed at 5 or at 14, navigating the difficulties of T1D can be challenging and extremely isolating. It is critical that schools are prepared and they can do so by implementing Type 1 diabetes-specific policies. Currently, schools follow a policy titled “Administration of Medication in Schools Policy”, a document that the Yukon T1D Support Network believes is NOT in the best interest of children living with disease. Procedural actions are currently in the works to provide accompanying expectations of schools, and time will tell if this will be effective. However, a policy that mandates school administrators have a full-time EA for young children is needed.
When a young adult is diagnosed in the Yukon, the support is negligible. In fact, most young adults that we speak to describe their interactions with their physicians as serving one purpose: writing a prescription for insulin. Youth also inform us that they are regularly harassed at work (e.g. to not have needed snacks, to not ‘look at their phone’ aka. CGM, etc.) and they have little recourse. Young adults with Type 1 diabetes have significantly more depressive disorders, eating disorders, and serious harms related to repeat entry into hypoglycemia and hyperglycemia.
This must be changed. There is no room for negotiation on this front: all children and youth living with Type 1 diabetes must receive care that is specific to their age and their capacity. We cannot have one more newly diagnosed young adult sent home from a doctor’s office with a prescription and no educational interventions. We must be vigilant in ensuring that Yukon youth are thriving.