MEDIA RELEASE: 01 February 2021 – R0014

Vanessa Sjaarda (BScN ’19) was training to be a cardiovascular technologist when the symptoms began — constant thirst, followed by dramatic weight loss. She ended up in hospital and was soon diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes.

Now, as she pursues her master’s research in Applied Health Sciences, the Brock University graduate student wants to make a difference in the lives of those faced with the disease.

Sjaarda is seeking young adults ages 18 to 30 with Type 1 diabetes to explore what traits they’d want in a prospective mentor. The goal of the project is to design an intervention to help those with the condition who may be struggling.

Type 1 diabetes, commonly referred to as juvenile or insulin-dependent diabetes, is a chronic condition where the pancreas produces little or no insulin by itself. Over time, this leads to serious damage to the heart, blood vessels, eyes, kidneys and nerves.

“It has been 10 years since I received this life-changing diagnosis,” says Sjaarda, who recognizes there are many others like her who received the news beyond childhood.

“While there is a lot of focus and research on kids with Type 1 diabetes, eventually we all become young adults and there is a knowledge gap for our age group,” she says.

Sjaarda, alongside her thesis supervisor, Associate Professor of Nursing Sheila O’Keefe-McCarthy, and community research partner, Dr. Andrea Delrue, Niagara Health, Niagara Diabetes Centre, is exploring how mentorship can provide support, improve quality of life and fill gaps.

“This is a disease that requires constant management and learning how to take care of yourself daily,” says Sjaarda. “Findings from my literature review emphasize there are high levels of emotional stress linked to the unending worries, burdens and concerns that occur when managing diabetes.”

These symptoms, defined as ‘diabetes distress,’ can lead to burnout as diabetics try to control their own physical and mental health. Issues of this nature are now “exacerbated during the COVID-19 pandemic,” says O’Keefe-McCarthy.

Findings also suggest increasing diabetes knowledge and psychosocial supports result in behaviour changes, which enable better management of the disease and improve mental health.

Driven to create an impactful study, the research team initially intended for participant recruitment and interviews to take place in a clinical setting. The COVID-19 pandemic has largely affected this approach as in-person interactions have been suspended since March 2020.

“Now with COVID, I’m meeting with young people online or through phone interviews,” explains Sjaarda. “Losing the opportunity to develop a face-to-face relationship, which is a key component of qualitative research, is not ideal but we are making it work.”

One of the notable changes to the research approach is now interviewees are afforded the opportunity to consider how COVID-19 is affecting how they are managing their diabetes, mental health, finances and support systems. Participant recruitment is now being done by snowball sampling or word of mouth. This has increased the geographic reach of the study beyond Niagara and throughout Ontario.

The piece of the larger study that Sjaarda is working on aims to identify what mentorship means to each young participant and how the research team might go about creating a process that identifies suitable mentors.

The research project, “Requisite Characteristics of a Mentor to Establish Positive Relationships in a Type One Diabetes Intervention from the Mentee Perspective,” is seeking English-speaking study participants.

Young people aged 18 to 30 with Type 1 diabetes who are interested in participating in an online interview via Microsoft Teams are invited to email Sjaarda at vs15lv@brocku.ca before Wednesday, March 31. The conversation-style interviews typically take less than one hour and participants can choose to share as much or as little as they feel comfortable.

For more information or for assistance arranging interviews:

* Dan Dakin, Manager Communications and Media Relations, Brock University ddakin@brocku.ca or 905-347-1970

– 30 –