Spiritual Self-Care Practices, Diabetes Knowledge, and Diabetes Self-Care Practices for African Americans

Purpose: The purpose of this descriptive study was to examine holistic spiritual self-care practices, diabetes knowledge, and its association with self-care practices among African Americans diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. The objective was to determine if spiritual self-care practices correlated with diabetes self-care practices among African Americans. Design: A descriptive research design was used for African Americans living in a Midwestern urban area. Participants were at least 18 years of age and diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. Participants were excluded if they had a diagnosis of type 1 or gestational diabetes, and/or a history of dementia or psychiatric illness. Method: Ninety African American participants between 28 and 88 years of age completed four instruments to measure diabetes knowledge, diabetes self-care practices, and spiritual self-care practices. Findings: Statistically significant correlations were found between general diet and diabetic self-care practices, spiritual self-care practices, physical spiritual self-care practices, and interpersonal spiritual self-care practices. Conclusion: This research project provided evidence that nursing staff caring for African Americans diagnosed with type 2 DM may consider incorporating spiritual self-care practices with other holistic self-care practices when helping African Americans manage their DM. This study found that spiritual self-care practices were important for African Americans who participated with this study.