Long-term disease management needs of southern African Americans with diabetes

This qualitative study explored the issues, concerns, and needs of low-income, southern African Americans in managing type 2 diabetes over time.

Two focus groups (N = 22) were conducted with the target population to collect data. Group sessions were audiotaped and transcribed verbatim. Content analysis was used to analyze the data.

The data revealed an overall theme of learning to live with diabetes, which consisted of 3 processes: (1) symptom management, (2) making healthy choice, and (3) emotional adjustment. This article focuses on the processes of symptom management and making healthy choices. Findings suggest that the sequential processes of symptom management and making healthy choices occurred over time primarily through experiential learning in this population and were influenced by social support, caring and collaborative provider-client relationships, and access to resources and culturally sensitive supportive services.

Experiential educational methods that incorporate social support and access to resources may be more appropriate than the traditional didactic method of teaching diabetes self-care.