“We Care 2” is a signature program of the Diabetes Foundation of Mississippi that sends a DFM representative to visit a newly diagnosed child and his/her family while in the hospital.* The program’s goal is to connect families with an ongoing support system and resource network for managing the health of their child.
Trained staff visit the family in the hospital and provide both comfort and information to guide them through the months of transition into a life of healthy diabetes management. Through these visits, children get the chance to see that they are not alone in this process, and there are resources to help both themselves and their family. The DFM staff also informs the caregivers about the Sweet Subject school program and connects them with resources as their child heads back to school after their diagnosis.
The DFM provides the family with a colorful backpack filled with age-appropriate information about diabetes for the child and the parents or caregivers. Also included in the bags are books for the entire family, a blood glucose meter and extra strips, visual aids for quick identification of high and low blood glucose emergencies, nutrition information, school/daycare medical plans, and a huggable, stuffed yellow lab named “Sugar.” Each of the bags is assembled individually based on the family’s specific needs and whether the child was diagnosed with type 1 or type 2 diabetes.
*If we don’t find out about the newly diagnosed child in time, or if the child is diagnosed outside the Jackson Metro area, the backpack may be sent by FedEx to their home.
