Type 1 diabetes can be a frightening and disempowering problem for young adults who leave home to attend college or university for the first time. They can often be resistant to using healthcare services and are at a higher risk of depression.

The College Diabetes Network was established in 2009 by Christina Roth who became interested in meeting other students coping with the same experiences so she started a group to connect with other students. Due to the difficulty of raising awareness about the group, she created a website to facilitate communication between students at universities and to provide suggestions on forming groups with tips on how to deal with the challenges that may come up. The site became a way to help other schools form groups and to provide suggestions on making their campuses more “diabetes friendly”.

The site includes blogs, resources and tips for parents.