Quality Standard Details
Type 1 Diabetes: Care for People of All Ages
- Publication Date
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2021-May-01
- Status
- Published
- Topic Area
- Diabetes and Other Endocrinal, Nutritional and Metabolic
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In 2019, an estimated 1.5 million Ontarians, or 10% of the provincial population, were living with diabetes (type 1 and type 2 combined). People with diabetes are at risk of developing serious, acute complications, long-term microvascular complications, and cardiovascular disease.
Managing the condition and its complications has substantial personal and economic impacts for people with type 1 diabetes and their families and caregivers. The direct cost to the health care system of treating diabetes (all forms) and its complications is estimated be $1.5 billion.
This quality standard addresses care for people of any age with a diagnosis of type 1 diabetes. It applies to all settings. It does not include care for pregnant people with type 1 diabetes. For a quality standard that addresses care for people with type 1 or type 2 diabetes who become pregnant, or people diagnosed with gestational diabetes, please refer to the Diabetes in Pregnancy quality standard.
Quality Standard in Brief
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Quality Statement 1: Diabetes Self-Management Education and Support
People with type 1 diabetes and their families and caregivers are offered an individualized, structured self-management education and support program at diagnosis and on an ongoing basis.
Quality Statement 2: Access to an Interprofessional Care Team
People with type 1 diabetes have access to an interprofessional diabetes health care team with training in type 1 diabetes.
Quality Statement 3: Setting and Achieving Glycemic Targets
People with type 1 diabetes, in collaboration with their health care team, set individualized glycemic targets, including glycated hemoglobin (hemoglobin A1C) and other available measures of glycemia. All available data are used to assess whether individualized glycemic targets are achieved and to guide treatment decisions and self-management activities.
Quality Statement 4: Identifying and Assessing Mental Health Needs
People with type 1 diabetes are screened for psychological distress and mental health disorders on a regular basis using recognized screening questions or validated screening tools. People who screen positive for a mental health disorder are referred to a health care professional with expertise in mental health for further assessment and treatment.
Quality Statement 5: Transition From Pediatric to Adult Diabetes Care
People with type 1 diabetes experience planned, coordinated, and supported transitions from pediatric to adult diabetes care.
Supporting Documents
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Patient guide for this quality standard
Know what to ask for in your care
Placemat for this quality standard
A quick-reference resource for clinicians that summarizes the quality standard and includes links to helpful resources and tools
Quality improvement tools and resources for health care professionals, including an action plan template
Supplementary information to support the data collection and measurement process
Additional Resources
If you would like to receive these resources, please send us a message using our contact form:
- Case for improvement (slide deck)
Share why this standard was created and the data behind it, to get the support you need to put it into practice - Technical specifications
See the technical specifications for the indicators within the quality standard - Summary of the public feedback we received
- Case for improvement (slide deck)
Last Updated: February 24, 2026
