Help for Children —

Having Type I Diabetes is bad enough, but imagine being a child growing up through the school system and their peer network while having to manage this disease on a daily and sometimes hourly basis all the while not wanting to be labeled as different than everyone else.  Managing blood glucose levels, insulin injections/pumps and all the associated equipment at each meal of the day is a challenge in and of itself but not wanting to stand out in a crowd of other children makes it just that much worse.  In response to these social pressures, many kids do not manage their diabetes as they should to avoid being labeled different than their peers.  Consequently their diabetes goes unmanaged and their health is negatively impacted.  They are stuck in a catch-22.  If the equipment could be designed such that the management of the disease can be done relatively inconspicuously the compliance rate of children to managing their diabetes would increase.  Unfortunately today, most diabetic devices have been designed from the perspective of an adult and do not address the unique challenges of children. We Can Do Better…

Hope for Families —

Diabetes Management Tools for Children

A number of issues were presented to us from Children’s hospital of Minnesota in relation to the diabetes management products that kids are required to use to control their type 1 diabetes.  Many of these devices are not designed with children in mind.  This has led to issues with the devices themselves as well as compliance issues with the child managing their disease as they should.  To help initiate the discussion around these devices, a concept development project was initiated looking at the potential ways of making these everyday devices more child and kid friendly, with the ultimate hope that this will allow them to better manage their disease and better maintain their health.

The main features of this product include:

  • Concept generation for child-friendly diabetes management tools [pumps, glucose meters, insulin pens, etc.]

Current Activities Include:

  • Receiving feedback on first round of concepts
  • Exploring additional areas within childhood diabetes that can be improved or have an unmet need met

Project History:

  • Project identified and supported through Children’s Hospital of Minnesota
  • Fall 2009, Senior Industrial Design Project initiated with University of Wisconsin – Stout

If you have interest in volunteering to help with this project please visit the Support Us section of the website.