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Youth with diabetes frequently have limited access to traditional camps because of the need for accessible medical staff. With organized camping becoming more specialized with regard to meeting the needs of youth, there is an increased interest in developing and examining the efficacy of programs that serve individuals in specific illness groups, such as youth with type 1 diabetes. In a collaborative effort between a local university, a diabetes center of a local hospital, and the Lions Club, a diabetes camp was created to assist youth in the management of their diabetes. Data were collected over the 3-day family diabetes camp through three approaches: a pre- and post-program resiliency-based questionnaire, the 14-item Camper Learning Scale, and open-ended questions for parents of children with diabetes who were involved in camp. Wilcoxon t tests were used to analyze any differences between pre- and post-program scores on resiliency. The results indicated a positive increase of parents’ perceptions of their child’s resiliency ( Z = –1.833, P = 0.67). Findings from the Camper Learner Scale indicated that 77.14% of campers felt they “learned a little” or “learned a lot” about crucial youth development outcomes (e.g., independence). Finally, direct content analysis of the qualitative measures indicated several themes among parent respondents, which were generalized into three categories: motivation, community, and challenges. Diabetes camps and family diabetes camps have a great opportunity to address some of the challenges young people face while living with the second most common chronic illness facing youth.

Complications associated with a complex chronic illness, specifically, type 1 diabetes, negatively impact youth as they struggle to maintain healthy lifestyles. Type 1 diabetes is the second most common chronic illness affecting youth as well as one of the most psychologically and behaviorally demanding illnesses. Fortunately, organized camps have been shown to positively influence long-term outcomes for youth. Family Diabetes Camp, the only family medical program in the state where this study occurred, was created in collaboration with a local university, a diabetes center at a hospital, and a chapter of the Lions Club. This collaborative camp program aimed to test the effect of active participation in a Family Diabetes Camp upon youth outcomes for campers with type 1 diabetes. Specifically, the purpose was to evaluate the impact of a collaborative medical camp on campers’ resilience and youth developmental outcomes (e.g., independence). Family Diabetes Camp was designed using Outcome-Focused Programming (OFP) to promote positive youth development. The Family Diabetes Camp included 50 campers for the pre-test and post-test (n= 19 males and n= 31 females). While there were no statistically significant differences from pretest (M=4.97, SD= .53) to post-test scores (M=5.01, SD= .46), with t(50) = -.56, p= .57) researchers found a slight increase in resilience from pre to post-test. Using a retrospective measure, campers showed gains in the seven critical youth development outcomes identified by the American Camp Association. Finally, campers learned new knowledge about site injection, carbohydrate counting, and the use of exercise to help manage their diabetes. The impact associated with adapting activities and an environment to encourage, analyze, and challenge resilient behaviors is essential in encouraging independence, shared experiences, and effective disease management for youth living with type 1 diabetes. The camp, solely staffed by volunteers, included physicians, diabetes educators, certified therapeutic recreation specialists, dietitians, nurses, pump specialists, recreation professionals and students, and Lions Club Members. The camp program is unique not only in how it fills a void for youth with type 1 diabetes but how three large organizations work in concert to meet the needs of entire families. These types of data can be instrumental in establishing more camps and other out of school time programming that positively impacts quality of life, health care cost, and mortality among youth with type 1 diabetes.

The Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics developed the Promoting Environmental Awareness in Kids (PEAK) program to teach children the seven Leave No Trace principles. The purpose of this study was to assess the effectiveness of the PEAK program. A significant increase was found between the pre-test (M = 3.41, SD = .34) and the post-test (M = 3.61, SD = .36) with the post-test scores being significantly higher, F(1, 140) = 11.15, p