The Young Leaders in Diabetes (YLD) are individuals between 15 and 30 years old who complete a semester-long training. Participants develop the following skills: fundraising, basic and advanced management of diabetes, diabetes education, advocacy, leadership, communication and interpersonal relationships. YLD who stand out are invited to become tutors, responsible for supporting new candidates throughout the training to ensure that they develop leadership skills. In addition, tutors assist in leading activities, conducting group dynamics, organizing and planning training sessions. This study aims to analyze the impact of the YLD training on diabetes knowledge and empowerment.
Thirteen individuals with average age of 20.4±3.0y answered the Michigan Diabetes Knowledge Test (DKT) and the Michigan Diabetes Empowerment Scale Short Version (DES-SF). Five of them were YLD tutors-candidates (Tutors), while the other eight were the YLD-candidates. Scores between the groups were compared using the Mann-Whitney U Test.
The DES-SF scores were different between the groups (p=0.043, Tutors=4.75 and Candidates=4.13), indicating that individuals who finish the YLD training and stand out are overall more empowered than the ones with no previous YLD training. Tutors scored 20 (19-21), the YLD candidates scored 19 (13-23) on the DKT (no significant difference for DKT).
DES-SF and DKT were useful to reveal that individuals who completed the YLD training and stood out were more empowered and displayed more knowledge - which we attribute to the training - than candidates who had not started the training.