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Diabetes Self-care among a Multiethnic Sample of Older Adults

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Abstract

Type 2 diabetes constitutes a leading and increasing cause of morbidity and mortality among older adults, particularly African Americans, Native Americans, Mexican Americans, and rural dwellers. To understand diabetes self-care, an essential determinant of diabetic and overall health outcomes, 80 middle aged and older adults from these four disproportionately affected racial/ethnic/residential groups engaged in in-depth interviews, focusing on approaches to and explanations for diabetes self-care. Certain self-care activities (medication-taking, diet, foot care) were performed regularly while others (blood glucose monitoring, exercise) were practiced less frequently. Despite research suggestions to the contrary, only one in four elders used unconventional diabetes therapies, and only one-third listed someone other than a health care provider as a primary information source. Few self-care differences emerged according to race/ethnicity/residence, perhaps because of the influential and common circumstance of low income. Thematic analyses suggest that inadequate resources, perceived efficacy of medication, great respect for biomedical authority, and lack of familiarity with and concerns about unconventional therapies are influential in establishing these patterns of self-care. We discuss the similarity of self-care practices and perspectives irrespective of race/ethnicity/residence and the predominance of biomedical acceptability.

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Acknowledgements

We gratefully acknowledge the support of The Ohio Long-Term Care Research Project, Scripps Gerontology Center, Miami University, and the other fieldsites where this project took place. We also acknowledge the contributions of Dr. Eleanor Stoller and Elizabeth Chapleski. Support: This research has been supported by a grant to Dr. Kart from the National Institutes of Health/National Institute on Aging (#AG17347).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Behavioral Science, University of Kentucky, 125 College of Medicine Office Building, Lexington, KY, 40536-0086, USA

    Nancy E. Schoenberg

  2. Cooperative Extension, University of Arkansas, Little Rock, AR, USA

    LaVona S. Traywick

  3. Graduate Center for Gerontology, University of Kentucky, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, USA

    Joy Jacobs-Lawson

  4. Department of Anthropology, Sociology, and Gerontology, Miami University, Oxford, OH, USA

    Cary S. Kart

Authors
  1. Nancy E. Schoenberg
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  2. LaVona S. Traywick
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  3. Joy Jacobs-Lawson
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  4. Cary S. Kart
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Correspondence to Nancy E. Schoenberg.

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Schoenberg, N.E., Traywick, L.S., Jacobs-Lawson, J. et al. Diabetes Self-care among a Multiethnic Sample of Older Adults. J Cross Cult Gerontol 23, 361–376 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10823-008-9060-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10823-008-9060-z

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