Tan Cherry Chay Lee, Cheng Karis Kin Fong, Sum Chee Fang, Shew Jasmine Sew Hong, Holydard Eleanor, Wang Wenru
MA, RN, Doctoral Candidate, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, and Senior Staff Nurse, Singapore.
PhD, RN, Professor, Alice Lee Centre for Nursing Studies, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore.
J Nurs Res. 2018 Aug;26(4):242-249. doi: 10.1097/jnr.0000000000000226.
Given the global shift in aging populations and the associated increasing prevalence of diabetes, it is critical to explore new approaches in diabetic self-care management. In Singapore, what has been overlooked to date is an in-depth, contextually based examination of the needs, expectations, and barriers faced in self-care management by older adults with Type 2 diabetes.
This study aimed to explore the experiences of older Singaporeans with Type 2 diabetes in diabetes self-care management to understand their perceived needs, expectations, and barriers associated with their diabetes self-care management.
A descriptive qualitative approach using focus group discussions was adopted. Purposive sampling was used to recruit older adults with Type 2 diabetes from Singapore's three main ethnic groups, namely, Chinese, Malay, and Indian, through the diabetes centers of two hospitals. Four focus groups, including two groups of Chinese, one group of Malays, and one group of Indians, were conducted. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the data set for emerging themes that relate to the experiences of participants with diabetes self-care management.
The four major themes related to the experiences of participants with diabetes self-care management that emerged were as follows: (a) "Diabetes is genetic, destined, and not serious; complication, let it come"; (b) "Diabetes self-care is difficult"; (c) "I don't know diabetes"; and (d) "Doctor and nurses are important facilitators of self-care management."
CONCLUSIONS/IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: Findings have important implications in Singapore as well as in other Asian countries where populations are also aging and diabetes prevalence is increasing. The findings provide new culturally focused insights for clinical patient education within the Southeast Asian context to improve diabetes self-care management of older adults.
鉴于全球人口老龄化趋势以及随之而来的糖尿病患病率上升，探索糖尿病自我管理的新方法至关重要。在新加坡，迄今为止被忽视的是对2型糖尿病老年人在自我管理中所面临的需求、期望和障碍进行深入的、基于具体情境的研究。
本研究旨在探索新加坡2型糖尿病老年人在糖尿病自我管理方面的经历，以了解他们对糖尿病自我管理的感知需求、期望以及相关障碍。
采用焦点小组讨论的描述性定性研究方法。通过两家医院的糖尿病中心，采用目的抽样法从新加坡的三个主要种族，即华人、马来人和印度人中招募2型糖尿病老年人。共进行了四个焦点小组讨论，其中包括两组华人、一组马来人和一组印度人。采用主题分析法对与参与者糖尿病自我管理经历相关的数据集进行分析，以找出新出现的主题。
与参与者糖尿病自我管理经历相关的四个主要主题如下：（a）“糖尿病是遗传的、命中注定的，不严重；并发症，随它去”；（b）“糖尿病自我管理困难”；（c）“我不了解糖尿病”；（d）“医生和护士是自我管理的重要促进者”。
结论/实践意义：研究结果对新加坡以及其他人口也在老龄化且糖尿病患病率不断上升的亚洲国家具有重要意义。这些发现为东南亚背景下的临床患者教育提供了新的以文化为重点的见解，以改善老年人的糖尿病自我管理。
