Summary: In a qualitative study, interviews with parents and caregivers of adolescents with type 1 diabetes before a transition-readiness programme identified what they need during the move to adult care, generating practical recommendations to refine a future full-scale trial.
PICO Summary
| Element | Detail |
|---|---|
| Population | 13 of 17 parents/caregivers of adolescents (14–16 years) with type 1 diabetes, randomised to the intervention arm of a pilot trial; pre-intervention qualitative interview study, Canada. |
| Intervention | A pilot transition-readiness programme of group education sessions and peer support for parents/caregivers; this paper reports pre-intervention semi-structured interviews analysed thematically. |
| Comparison | Not applicable; this is a qualitative pre-intervention analysis rather than an outcome comparison. |
| Outcome | Four themes emerged: the importance of a bidirectional, supportive environment for parents/caregivers; acknowledgement of shifting parental roles during transition; identification of relevant diabetes education topics; and practical recommendations for the logistics of the intervention. Findings will refine a future full-scale trial. |
Expert Commentary
This is a qualitative study, and it should be read for the meaning it surfaces rather than for effect sizes, since interviews of this kind do not test a hypothesis or yield statistics but map the experiences and needs that a later trial must address. Its value lies in centring parents and caregivers, who are often overlooked in transition research even though the handover from paediatric to adult diabetes care is a high-risk period for disengagement and deteriorating control, and the four themes are sensible and actionable, spanning emotional support for caregivers themselves, the difficult renegotiation of parental roles as adolescents take ownership, the content families actually want, and the practical logistics that determine whether a programme is usable. The honest limits are inherent to the design and scope: a small single-centre sample of 13 caregivers from one tertiary clinic, all already enrolled in a pilot, so the views may not generalise, and the study describes needs rather than demonstrating that meeting them improves outcomes. Can I use this with my patients? Yes, as a prompt to widen my lens. It reminds me to support and prepare caregivers, not just adolescents, during transition, and to involve families in shaping how that support is delivered, while the question of whether structured caregiver programmes improve transition outcomes awaits the full trial.
References
Tapp K, Mok E, Davis D, et al. Perspectives of parents/caregivers prior to a pilot intervention trial to improve transition to adult care for adolescents with type 1 diabetes: a qualitative study. BMJ Open. 2025;15(12):e108079. doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2025-108079