Diabetes and the Camp

A Study about the Circle of Life Camp

• In a controlled research study conducted at the Circle of Life Camp, children who attended the camp displayed significant improvements in self-esteem compared to children with diabetes who did not attend camp.
• Many parents also indicated in that same study that their child was more adherent to their regimen after camp; gained knowledge about how to manage their diabetes at camp; and felt less depressed and more comfortable about having diabetes after being around the other children and staff also coping with diabetes.

Facts about Circle of Life Camp

• Everyone at camp administers insulin, monitors their blood glucose, and learns to make healthy meal choices together (children are not required to do thier own injections to attend camp).
• Children learn to inject themselves for the first time, rotate their injection and infusion sites, and carbohydrate count.
• The camp medical procedures are supervised by the camp physicians and the camp nurses certified in diabetes education. Additional medical staff include our camp dieticians and psychologists.
• We have dedicated night rounds staff to monitor the campers’ blood sugar throughout the night.
• Our counselor to camper ratio is 1:3.

Medica & Psychological Aspects of Camp

The Circle of Life Camp is a residental camp where all campers and a majority of the staff have diabetes. At camp diabetes education is done informally, rather than in a classroom setting. All campers are assigned to a cabin based on their age. The following is an explanation of the education and social support provided by the camp.

Our Medical Team

We have volunteer endocrinologists, nurces certified in diabetes education on staff. Dieticians supervise meals, teach carbohydrate counting and ensure proper nutrition. Our camp psychologists assist campers in coping with their disease. These diabetes professionals work as a team to monitor blood sugars, deliver and adjust insulin levels, help campers manage their diabetes throughout the week, and teach the children how to live longer, happy, healthier lives.

“For my daughter to be surrounded by girls and boys, of various ages, who all understand her daily struggle with diabetes to maintain her health, psychosocially and physically, was such a GREAT thing!  People actually understood her life! The older CITs and counselors were wonderful role models to the younger campers, showing them they could enjoy life, bar none, even though she has diabetes!  I, as a nurse, loved the fact that I could go home to my other children and not worry about my daughter, knowing her medical needs were monitored, and attended to as needed.” 

Denise Duggan, mother of Caleigh, age 13

Blood Glucose Monitoring / Insulin:

Before breakfast, lunch, dinner and bedtime everyone meets in a large room to test their blood sugar and administer insulin if needed. Campers sit in a circle with their cabinmates to do their BG testing/injections. The counselors take this opportunity while waiting for medical staff to consult, to talk about issues and feeling that campers may have about their blood sugar and ketone testing (they may feel guilty, etc…). The counselors and medical staff also take this opportunity to educate the campers on an individual basis, discussing their treatment regimens.

The staff encourages campers to take responsibility for their own management (ie., self-inject) and learn new things, but the campers must take the initiative themselves. When campers try something new or help a fellow camper with something new (ie., mixing insulins in the same syringe), their name is announced as doing a "first" at the following meal and they receive a prize from the prize box, while the entire camp applauds their accomplishment. This seems to be a "positive peer-pressure" and by the end of camp everyone is trying to find something to do for the "first" time. Diabetes education is also taught through games, such as "Alien Encounter."

If a camper feels low, high or wants to check their sugar when the camp is not doing a scheduled group test, they test their sugar on a meter their assigned counselor carries in a fanny pack.

We have a separate night rounds staff which monitors the camper and staff's blood glucose throughout the night to prevent emergencies.

Nutrition:

In the dining hall there is a poster of foods being served at each meal with the grams of carbohydrate listed per serving. There are kitchen staff and a dietician to help the campers figure out how much carbohydrate they have on their plates. The camp dietician and counselors try to teach campers how to carbohydrate count and how different foods act in their body (ie. fast acting sugar vs. complex carbohydrate). The camp's eating schedule is as follows: breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, dinner, snack.

Exercise

Many activities involve exercise - swimming, hiking, canoeing, capture the flag, Circle Olympic Relays, baseball and much much more. While motivating campers who do not want to participate, staff also educate campers on precautions to take while exercising to prevent hypoglycemia. Campers also observe others (as well as themselves) becoming low and needing to eat, or are high and spilling ketones (which is a lesson in itself and normalizes the experience of diabetes).

Psychosocial Support

Throughout camp, the campers and staff discuss embarrassing situations, negative feels and share stories about their diabetes. A discussion group is held which talks about problems encountered with diabetes and how to problem solve these situations. Each group is facilitated by a staff member with diabetes.