Reflections on health communications aimed at a young audience: Examining current practices in diabetes education and communication for children

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Reflections on health communications aimed at a young audience: Examining current practices in diabetes education and communication for children

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2019

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Scholarly Text or Essay

Abstract

This paper studies methods that technical writers can use to tailor their communications for a child audience. The approach taken was to study methods used in practice by diabetes educators working with pediatric patients with type 1 diabetes. Many type 1 diabetes patients are children. In order to manage their condition, these patients must be actively involved in their treatment and use a variety of technologies. It is the job of diabetes educators to work with these young patients to make sure that they understand their medical condition in order to maintain their health. After reviewing the literature and interviewing several diabetes educators, I analyzed communication materials that these educators use with their patients. In performing that analysis, I identified several methods that the diabetes educators use across a wide variety of formats. These methods include the use of narrative and techniques to encourage different types of interaction from the audience. Lastly, I consider the implications of these communication methods for technical writers.

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Lilley, Matthew. (2019). Reflections on health communications aimed at a young audience: Examining current practices in diabetes education and communication for children. Retrieved from the University Digital Conservancy, https://hdl.handle.net/11299/202780.

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