OBJECTIVE: Parents who have a child newly diagnosed with type 1 diabetes (T1D) must quickly learn daily diabetes self-management. An RCT was conducted using human patient simulation (HPS) to enhance parents learning diabetes self-management with children with new-onset T1D. The purpose of this study was to describe parents' perspectives of using HPS to augment diabetes education.

METHODS: A qualitative descriptive design was used with open-ended in-depth interviews of parents (n=49) post-intervention. Qualitative directed content analysis was used.

RESULTS: The majority of parents were positive about learning with HPS. Although a few parents said the HPS was "hokey" or "creepy," most reported the visual and hands-on learning was realistic and very beneficial. Seeing a seizure increased their fear although they would have panicked if they had not had that learning experience, and it helped build their diabetes self-management confidence. Recommendations included teaching others with the HPS (grandparents, siblings, babysitters, and school nurses).

CONCLUSION: HPS-enhanced education is an acceptable and viable option that was generally well-received by parents of children with new-onset T1D.

PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: The technique should be studied with parents of children with other chronic illnesses to see if the benefits found in this study are applicable to other settings.