Type 1 diabetes is a chronic disease increasing in frequency that requires medical, nursing, psychological, dietary assistance and continuos therapeutic education. The impact of a chronic disease in an adult's life is sometimes devastating but it is even more so for a child, for a teenager and for their families: the acceptance that diabetes "accompany" the child's life forever, and that is a variable to be taken into consideration in all he will do, is difficult. The children and adolescents' needs are special and very different from those of adults with diabetes.
In order to reach selfcontroll and self-managment is necessary that children and adolescents are "educated" and have a thorough understanding of diabetes, including the tools at their disposal.
Education is a critical component of care; if the patient is not informed or is not formed, the professional healthcare is not performing their work: "the patient that is informed about their disease live longer" (Dr. EP Joslin, 1940).
A particularly interesting initiative, which can be considered in all respect an integral part of DM1 therapy, is represented by educational- therapeutic camps. For a few days children live in close contact with some members of the team and with other "comrades" who shares the same problem. Their parents remain at home. This situation "opens" many possibilities: its role is not only to test and to reinforce the acquired concepts given previously to patients, but also to put them in practice in a real life situation.
