Abstract
The aim of the study was to investigate how younger adults diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes (T2D), who had attended a diabetes education program, self-manage their condition.
The sample n= 25 (12 males) comprised 19 Caucasians, 5 African Americans, 1 Hispanic, aged ≤55 years (M= 47.2, SD= 5.5) recruited from populations in Londonderry (N. Ireland) and Chicago (U.S.). This research was qualitative, with semi-structured interviews conducted to explore participant feelings, behaviours, motivations, confidence, experiences, and perceived barriers impacting on their self-management.
Collected data, from both cities were transcribed and analysed to detect emerging themes. Descriptive statistics were used to describe the sample.
Findings show marked differences in how males and females self-manage their condition, across key domains such as information seeking, diet and exercise behaviours, response to diabetes education, support, family changes, family awareness and confidence in controlling their condition. These differences held true across location, culture and health service provision. A key theme common to males and females was the reporting of depression or related symptomology and its impact on self-management behaviours.
The results indicate that education does improve understanding, however the nature of the education should be tailored to a greater degree to reflect the needs, capacity and circumstances of males and females. The issue of depression is reported to be a barrier to effective assimilation and implementation of information related to their condition.
There are messages for those designing diabetes education programs, considering the differing motivations across genders. Lastly, consideration could be given to family transmission of T2D or mechanisms by which family awareness can be increased. The inclusion of either, in diabetes education programs may allow the patient to act as an agent for awareness, change and possibly prevention within their family.
The sample n= 25 (12 males) comprised 19 Caucasians, 5 African Americans, 1 Hispanic, aged ≤55 years (M= 47.2, SD= 5.5) recruited from populations in Londonderry (N. Ireland) and Chicago (U.S.). This research was qualitative, with semi-structured interviews conducted to explore participant feelings, behaviours, motivations, confidence, experiences, and perceived barriers impacting on their self-management.
Collected data, from both cities were transcribed and analysed to detect emerging themes. Descriptive statistics were used to describe the sample.
Findings show marked differences in how males and females self-manage their condition, across key domains such as information seeking, diet and exercise behaviours, response to diabetes education, support, family changes, family awareness and confidence in controlling their condition. These differences held true across location, culture and health service provision. A key theme common to males and females was the reporting of depression or related symptomology and its impact on self-management behaviours.
The results indicate that education does improve understanding, however the nature of the education should be tailored to a greater degree to reflect the needs, capacity and circumstances of males and females. The issue of depression is reported to be a barrier to effective assimilation and implementation of information related to their condition.
There are messages for those designing diabetes education programs, considering the differing motivations across genders. Lastly, consideration could be given to family transmission of T2D or mechanisms by which family awareness can be increased. The inclusion of either, in diabetes education programs may allow the patient to act as an agent for awareness, change and possibly prevention within their family.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | A198 |
| Number of pages | 1 |
| Journal | Diabetes |
| Publication status | Published - 2015 |
