Supporting disengaged children and young people living with diabetes to self-care: a qualitative study in a socially disadvantaged and ethnically diverse urban area
Article
Sharpe, D., Rajabi, M., Harden, A., Moodambail, A. and Hakeem, V. 2021. Supporting disengaged children and young people living with diabetes to self-care: a qualitative study in a socially disadvantaged and ethnically diverse urban area. BMJ Open. 11 (Art. e046989). https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2020-046989
Authors | Sharpe, D., Rajabi, M., Harden, A., Moodambail, A. and Hakeem, V. |
---|---|
Abstract | Objective: To explore how to enhance services to support the self-care of children and young people (CYP) clinically considered ‘disengaged’ by diabetes services. Design: Qualitative study Setting: Two diabetes clinics in an ethnically diverse and socially disadvantaged urban area in the UK. Eligible participants were CYP living with Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes aged between 10 and 25 years who did not attend their last annual hospital appointment. Participants: 22 CYP (14 female and 8 male) aged between 10 and 19 years old took part. The sample was diverse in terms of ethnicity, age at diagnosis, family composition, and presence of diabetes amongst other family members. Data collection: Semi-structured interviews Data analysis: Data were analysed thematically. Results: Analysis of participant accounts confirmed the crucial importance of non-medicalised care in children and young people diabetes care. A life plan was considered as important to participants as a health plan. Participants valued the holistic support provided by friends, family members and school teachers. However, they found structural barriers in their health and educational pathways as well as disparities in the quality of support at critical moments along the life course. They actively tried to maximise their well-being by balancing life priorities against diabetes priorities. Combined, these features could undermine participants engagement with health services where personal strategies were often held back or edited out of clinical appointments in fear of condemnation. Conclusion: We demonstrate why diabetes health teams need to appreciate the conflicting pressures experienced by CYP and to co-produce more nuanced health plans for addressing their concerns regarding identity and risk taking behaviours in the context of their life-worlds. Exploring these issues and identifying ways to better support CYP to address them more pro-actively should reduce disengagement and set realistic health outcomes that make best use of medical resources. |
Journal | BMJ Open |
Journal citation | 11 (Art. e046989) |
ISSN | 2044-6055 |
Year | 2021 |
Publisher | BMJ Publishing Group |
Accepted author manuscript | License File Access Level Repository staff only |
Publisher's version | License File Access Level Anyone |
Digital Object Identifier (DOI) | https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2020-046989 |
Publication dates | |
Online | 13 Oct 2021 |
Publication process dates | |
Accepted | 23 Sep 2021 |
Deposited | 23 Sep 2021 |
Funder | National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) |
Copyright holder | © 2021 The Authors |
https://repository.uel.ac.uk/item/89vz4
Download files
381
total views162
total downloads3
views this month1
downloads this month