TY - JOUR
T1 - “Sometimes Our Mob Don't Really Take It Serious Until It's Serious”
T2 - The Experiences of Western Australian Aboriginal Adolescents Living With Type 2 Diabetes, Their Parents, and Their Family Members
AU - Carman, Rebecca
AU - Towell-Barnard, Amanda
AU - Shah, Mark
AU - Davis, Elizabeth
AU - Maple-Brown, Louise
AU - Pearson, Glenn
AU - Arabiat, Diana
AU - Kirkham, Renae
AU - Whitehead, Lisa
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors express their gratitude to all participants who were willing to be interviewed. It was a privilege to listen to them and discuss their lived experiences. Funding support was received from Healthway (WHITEHEAD 32861). However, Healthway was not involved in any aspect of the study and played no role in interpretation of the results or reporting of the findings.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 Canadian Diabetes Association
PY - 2023/7
Y1 - 2023/7
N2 - Objectives: In Australia, Aboriginal children experience disproportionate rates of type 2 diabetes (T2D) compared with non-Aboriginal children. The aim of this qualitative study was to explore the experiences of Aboriginal adolescents with T2D and their family members to better understand the influences of T2D on self-management, with findings used to inform an enhanced service model of care.Methods: Semistructured interviews were conducted with purposively selected Western Australian Aboriginal adolescents with T2D and their parents and guardians. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and analyzed with NVivo software using interpretative thematic analysis; overarching themes were generated.Results: Interviews with 24 participants, including 8 adolescents aged 11 to 16 years, were conducted across 4 regions of Western Australia. A high proportion of these adolescents were diagnosed with T2D during an unrelated hospitalization or medical appointment. Most did not fully understand or were unaware of the long-term impact of T2D. Discussions about diabetes within families did not typically occur, and shame and concealment of the diagnosis was a common finding. The parents of the adolescents described the diagnosis of T2D as compounding an already challenging set of circumstances for the family; this impacted their capacity to promote self-management activities and attend hospital and outpatient appointments. Conclusions: This study privileges the voices of Aboriginal adolescents and family members and offers insight into their personal narrative of living with T2D. Building family and community capacity to normalize preventive activities and manage T2D postdiagnosis is recommended to improve health outcomes.
AB - Objectives: In Australia, Aboriginal children experience disproportionate rates of type 2 diabetes (T2D) compared with non-Aboriginal children. The aim of this qualitative study was to explore the experiences of Aboriginal adolescents with T2D and their family members to better understand the influences of T2D on self-management, with findings used to inform an enhanced service model of care.Methods: Semistructured interviews were conducted with purposively selected Western Australian Aboriginal adolescents with T2D and their parents and guardians. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and analyzed with NVivo software using interpretative thematic analysis; overarching themes were generated.Results: Interviews with 24 participants, including 8 adolescents aged 11 to 16 years, were conducted across 4 regions of Western Australia. A high proportion of these adolescents were diagnosed with T2D during an unrelated hospitalization or medical appointment. Most did not fully understand or were unaware of the long-term impact of T2D. Discussions about diabetes within families did not typically occur, and shame and concealment of the diagnosis was a common finding. The parents of the adolescents described the diagnosis of T2D as compounding an already challenging set of circumstances for the family; this impacted their capacity to promote self-management activities and attend hospital and outpatient appointments. Conclusions: This study privileges the voices of Aboriginal adolescents and family members and offers insight into their personal narrative of living with T2D. Building family and community capacity to normalize preventive activities and manage T2D postdiagnosis is recommended to improve health outcomes.
KW - Aboriginal children
KW - adolescents
KW - First Nations people
KW - indigenous adolescents
KW - qualitative
KW - type 2 diabetes
KW - youth-onset type 2 diabetes
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85160425997&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.jcjd.2023.03.008
DO - 10.1016/j.jcjd.2023.03.008
M3 - Article
C2 - 37037417
AN - SCOPUS:85160425997
SN - 1499-2671
VL - 47
SP - 420
EP - 427
JO - Canadian Journal of Diabetes
JF - Canadian Journal of Diabetes
IS - 5
ER -
