Insights Into Self-Care of Feet When Living With Diabetes: A Phenomenological Hermeneutic Interview Study

To describe how persons with diabetes experience learning about self-care, with a particular focus on foot self-care.

Narrative, semi-structured interviews were conducted with persons diagnosed with Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes. Participants were recruited through an advertisement in a diabetes association magazine and through convenience and snowball sampling. Eleven participants aged 53-87 were interviewed between December 2024 and April 2025. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim and analysed using a phenomenological hermeneutic approach.

Learning about foot self-care emerged as a gradual, lived process shaped by bodily experiences, social relationships and access to support. Three themes were identified: the social landscape of self-care, the being of the feet and taking knowledge into your own hands. Learning was influenced by encounters with healthcare professionals, informal support from relatives and personal experiences over time. Bodily symptoms acted as driving forces for learning and self-care actions. Understanding why self-care mattered was essential for motivation, while seeking and evaluating knowledge became a strategy for control and participation in care.

Learning about foot self-care among persons with diabetes is an embodied, relational and ongoing process. That develops through interaction among lived bodily experiences, social support and personal responsibility rather than through information alone.

Healthcare professionals must integrate persons' experience-based knowledge and support dialogue, reflection and shared learning to strengthen foot self-care practices.

The study addressed the limited understanding of how persons with diabetes learn foot self-care. The results showed that learning is shaped by lived experience, relationships and meaning-making. The findings are relevant for persons with diabetes and healthcare professionals involved in diabetes care.

The study adhered to the COREQ criteria.

No patient or public contribution.