Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2026

DOI

10.3390/bs16010024

Publication Title

Behavioral Sciences

Volume

16

Issue

1

Pages

24

Abstract

The purpose of this cohort study was to evaluate participants’ general self-management and experiences of autonomy while attending diabetes camp using quantitative and qualitative data collection. Through a partnership, an outdoor diabetes camp was designed to assist youth with type 1 diabetes (T1D) in their management. The REACH Teen program conducted a week-long summer camp for youth with T1D. The study was designed through Outcome-Focused Programming grounded in Self-Determination Theory (SDT) to meet campers’ needs of autonomy, competence, and relatedness. Campers participated in outdoor activities and diabetes education designed to increase healthy behaviors. Twenty-three campers completed a 24-item pre- and post-camp questionnaire measuring participants’ perceived levels of satisfaction or frustration of their three basic psychological needs. At the conclusion of camp, 21 youth participated in 35-min focus group interviews. Through a paired-sample t-test, all three measures were trending in a positive direction, with relatedness (R) being the closest to significance. Cloud-based biometric data was used to compute the percentage of TIR for the week, during camp hours. The results from the focus group interviews revealed three themes: lack of outside understanding, varying levels of autonomy, and experiences at REACH. Not reporting TIR data outside of camp was a limitation of this study. Diabetes medical specialty camps grounded in SDT can provide an opportunity for campers to internalize healthy behaviors needed to manage their diabetes.

Rights

© 2025 by the authors. 

This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) License.

Data Availability

Article states: "The data presented in this study are available upon request from the corresponding author due to privacy concerns."

Original Publication Citation

Hill, E., Arrington, B., Harvey, T., Barmoh, A., Williams, R., & Hill, L. (2026). Integrating Self-Determination Theory and continuous glucose monitoring: Promoting youth development among campers with type 1 diabetes. Behavioral Sciences, 16(1), Article 24. https://doi.org/10.3390/bs16010024

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