Founded in 1998 and working effectively with patients since January 2004, and located in Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil, the Instituto da Criança com Diabetes (ICD-Institute for Children with Diabetes) provides free assistance to 4,678 children and young people with type 1 diabetes (DM1) – insulin dependent –, the most serious and complex form of the disease. Today, the ICD registers a 94% reduction in hospital admissions for patients, the result of the work carried out over the years, together with the Diabetes Education Continuing Program.
In these 19 years of effective operation with specialised care, the ICD has become a Reference Centre for the treatment of DM1 for Brazil and Latin America, with a significant number of patients, not found in other diabetes services in the country.
The institution is open from Monday to Friday, from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm, and offers care in a complete infrastructure with Day Hospital, Outpatient Clinic and HotLine – a telephone line for guidance and daily care for patients.
ICD’s work is focused on preventing complications resulting from the disease, with a daily diabetes education program, treatment, new technologies and extensive social assistance to family members and/or caregivers, who also need to be involved in the treatment of their children. Interdisciplinary care is provided by a team formed by endocrinologists, nephrologists, ophthalmologists, psychiatrists, nurses, nutritionists, psychologists, dentists, social workers and physical educators.
Activities such as the Diabetes Education Continuing Program, which offers video classes with the presence and chat of the ICD’s technical and medical staff, Carbohydrate Counting Workshops, Insulin Workshops, Physical Activity Program with CrossFit ICD, Input Supply Program for patients who are not receiving their medications from the government due to irregularity in dispensing or due to recent diagnosis, and the Quality of Life Program for patients with very decompensated diabetes are part of the daily routine of care at the institution.
