Grieving the Loss of Self: Challenges in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Self-Management

The aim of this study was to understand and describe the experience of diabetes self-management among patients not meeting glycemic control (A1C > 9). Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a complex chronic disease process. Diabetes self-management is equally complex and critical to patient outcomes and quality of life. The components for self-management include: knowledge, skills/abilities, and support. Few studies have reported on the experiences of self-management for patients with T2DM to reach and sustain glycemic control. This study used a qualitative descriptive design. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 13 patients receiving care at a diabetic clinic at a major health-care system in New York City. An interview guide was developed based on diabetes self-management which guided the interviews. All data were analyzed using qualitative content analysis. Initially, three themes that describe each component of diabetes mellitus self-management (DMSM) and impact the patients' reaching the desired outcome were identified: acceptance of knowledge, motivation for skills and abilities, and variability and vulnerability of support. Further analysis of the three themes led to the identification of an overarching, theme: loss of self. This overarching theme helped to explain the stages of grief illustrated across the themes in the participants DMSM experiences. The participants in this study identified loss of self, and the accompanying grief and grieving process related to the loss of self in response to their T2DM diagnosis. Participants were "stuck" in a stage of loss of self, which presented challenges to acceptance of their diagnosis, barriers to DMSM, and optimizing glycemic control.