Dr. Marie-Eve Robinson (Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario) and her team will assess the effectiveness of a mindful self-compassion program on improving the diabetes distress experienced by youth aged 12-17 years with T1D. The 8-week mindful self-compassion program will cover a variety of self-compassion practices, such as dealing with difficult emotions and developing a kind inner voice. The team anticipates that symptoms of anxiety, depression, disordered eating, and suicidal ideation will be lower in the mindful self-compassion group compared to the control group. This study has the potential to lower diabetes distress, the most common mental health problem experienced by youth with T1D, by increasing their self-compassion.

Dr. Tricia Tang (University of British Columbia) and her team at the University of British Columbia will use a virtual care platform to deliver peer-led mental health support to rural and remote communities in BC, through an intervention called REACHOUT, created with support from a previous JDRF grant.

REACHOUT is a Mobile App developed in collaboration with adults with T1D, clinical psychologists, biomedical engineers, behavioural scientists, and rural health experts. REACHOUT uses digital health technology to “drive” mental health support to people living with T1D in the greatest need. If successful, this innovative approach that seeks to reach the “hard-to-reach” can be adapted for kids, teens, adolescents, and young adults with T1D in BC and across Canada.

Dr. Peter Selby (Center for Addiction and Mental Health) and his team are bringing experts in mental health and T1D care together with those who have lived experience of T1D to co-develop a solution for diabetes distress that is accessible and acceptable to people with T1D, their caregivers, and health care practitioners. The program is geared towards younger adults between the ages of 18 and 29, a group disproportionately vulnerable to diabetes distress.

The evaluation of the intervention will examine both the feasibility and acceptability of the program as well as its effectiveness in reducing diabetes distress. The impact on diabetes self-care, overall blood glucose levels, and episodes of low blood glucose will also be measured.

Dr. Sonia Butalia (University of Calgary) and her team are researching the transition from pediatric to adult diabetes care in people with T1D. Dr. Butalia and her team have previously created a transition intervention that supports teens through texting, emails, phone calls, and social media groups via non-medical transition coordinators. Dr. Butalia will use the JDRF-CIHR grant to expand this program to 5 major sites in Alberta and evaluate the impact of the program on participants’ mental health, diabetes management and care transition, and cost effectiveness of the program.

Dr. Deborah Da Costa (McGill University) and her team are experts in maternal mental health and have previously developed a successful digital intervention for pregnant and postpartum women and birthing persons. They will now use the JDRF-CIHR grant to collaborate with diabetes experts – primarily those living with T1D and T2D – to adapt their platform for women and birthing persons with pregestational diabetes. The new adaptation – HealthyMoms DM+ – will be evaluated to determine its impact on mental health outcomes in people with pregestational diabetes (i.e., T1D or T2D prior to becoming pregnant) who are planning to become pregnant, are currently pregnant, or are in the 1-year postpartum period.

Dr. Jonathan McGavock (University of Manitoba) and his team are focused on improving empowerment, resiliency, and autonomy in adolescents with T1D through physical activity. Dr. McGavock and his team will conduct a 12-week program of group-based exercise led by mentors with T1D that are living healthy, active lifestyles. This program will seek to impart upon the participants a sense of mastery, relatedness and connection with peers, and a sense of autonomy to improve their quality of life through healthy, active lifestyles.

Dr. Holly Witteman (Université Laval) and her team will create a sustainable peer support program that is led by people with T1D, to improve the mental health and quality of life of people with T1D across Canada. CommuniT1D will be a virtual community led by people with T1D and supported by the research team who bring expertise in mental health, diabetes care, psychology, and social support. This program is intended to continuously adapt to the needs of the community, while the research will focus on the feasibility and acceptability of the program as well as its impact on diabetes distress, quality of life, well-being, diabetes management, and use of resources.