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Learning to live with diabetes, especially type 1, is a hard adjustment for anyone. But it might be the hardest for children. Now suddenly kids have an adult responsibility in watching what they eat while most other children around them consume whatever they want.
Enter the Lilly Diabetes organization’s new partnership with Disney. Stitch Kingdom reports on the measures the diabetes awareness and research company has taken with Disney Online and Disney Publishing to raise public cognizance of the disease and to help families who struggle with it.
The Lilly-Disney partnership takes two forms: a new subset of the Disney Family website that creates a space for advice and support for families dealing with type 1 diabetes, and a series of children’s books featuring Disney characters like Mickey and Goofy interacting with their new friend Coco, a monkey suffering from type 1. The books will be distributed in pediatrician’s offices.
These two ventures represent how the Lilly-Disney partnership looks to aid the entire family. The books are designed to help children cope with changes in their lives following a diabetes diagnosis, and the website aids parents looking to both do the same and to learn how to tackle the disease.
“Lilly Diabetes is proud to join forces with such an iconic and loved brand as Disney to bring families affected by type 1 diabetes much-needed resources,” said Dana Hardin, a pediatrician and research physician at Lilly. “Type 1 diabetes affects the entire family unit, not just the child. We’re excited to offer practical tools that address what families need after a diagnosis, which focus on living a healthy and active life.”
The Disney Family type 1 diabetes sub-site is chock full of such information. Its FAQ covers many of the most commonly-asked questions parents have after they find out their child has type 1 diabetes. It contains stories from moms whose young children received diagnoses.
Step by step tips abound on the website, taking parents through each moment: from the initial diagnosis to living with it day by day. The site highlights key moments in the lives of children dealing with type 1: classroom birthday parties, summer camp, sleepovers at friend’s houses, and more.
Disney Family is running a contest to commemorate the launch of the website. The Once Upon a Time contest invites the parents of a child with type 1 diabetes to share their stories and struggles in creative form. Submit a poem, essay, or story to the website to win a family trip for four to the 2012 Children with Diabetes Annual International Conference in Orlando on July 4-8, 2012.
The front page of the Disney Family type 1 diabetes site has a big link to the Once Upon a Time submission and deadline details, so check there for more information if you’re interested in entering the contest.
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*(This image by ex_magician is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 License.)
