Investigating the Social Service Needs of People with Type 1 Diabetes - A Focus on Adolescents and Young Adults

This study was conducted to analyze the subjective health status, life satisfaction, and social service needs of adolescent and young adult with type 1 diabetes, aiming to provide a basis for establishing holistic medical and social policies. Data were collected from 216 patients aged 9-39 years with type 1 diabetes who had been on insulin treatment for at least one year using a structured questionnaire and analyzed using SPSS 25.0. The results showed than the average subjective health status of adolescents and young adults with type 1 diabetes was 3.46(out of 5 points) and the average life satisfaction was 5.63(out of 10 points). Second, it was found that participants without complications(r=-.264, p<0.01) and with higher subjective health status(r=.585, p<0.01) reported greater life satisfaction. Third, Analysis of social service needs showed that adolescents had higher social service needs for health literacy and health management difficulties compared to young adults, and young adults had higher social service needs for financial burden due to diabetes. However, adolescents and young adults commonly complain about discomfort in schools and workplaces, regional differences, lack of education on understanding and managing diabetes at each stage, absence of counseling on coping with stresses, and limitations in social relationships due to diabetes, so it is necessary to develop social services through policy development.