Diabetes management as a Turkish family affair: chronic illness as a social experience

Health statistics frequently identify minority groups as vulnerable to chronic illness. Turkish Germans are said to be almost twice as likely to suffer from type 2 diabetes as Germans or Turks in Turkey.

Turkish migrants' experiences with diabetes are explored, in particular the role of family in shaping responses to chronic illness.

This paper draws on ethnographic fieldwork from September 2006 to August 2007 in Berlin, Germany. Interviews and participant observation were conducted with Turkish migrants with diabetes and their families, who were members of a Turkish self-help group, and with health professionals.

Family shapes Turkish Berliners' experience with diabetes in several ways and settings. The time of diagnosis is narrated as 'family histories'; subsequent attempts of lifestyle changes are negotiated as family practices, in particular with regard to food; and diabetes self-management, inside and outside the home, as day-to-day management practices, peer support and clinical consultations, affect and involve the whole family.

Family and other social relationships are inherently tied to efforts of diabetes self-care. While research often focuses simplistically on family as 'social support' or a 'barrier', families share complex lifeworlds and negotiate shared practices to make these experiences habitable.