SIGNIFICANCE: According to the American Diabetes Association (2014) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2011), 25.8 million people in the United States have diabetes. Clients develop secondary complications, resulting in disability or death, regardless of educational programs for successful self-management of Type 2 diabetes. Literature supports that client narratives are a missing link to client-centered care for these individuals, yet there is a gap in the literature in which clients’ perceptions of facilitators and barriers to self-managing their diabetes are explored. The purpose of this phenomenological study is to examine perceptions of 11 participants’ lived experiences of self-management issues that contribute to or prevent complications secondary to their Type 2 diabetes.

METHOD: Participants, aged 60 to 80 yr, living in the community, will be selected by convenience and word of mouth from the northeast. Maximum variation of the sample in terms of health characteristics and disability secondary to their Type 2 diabetes and socioeconomic level will be sought. Participants will be English speaking and will have experienced life-altering complications stemming from diabetes, such as heart disease, stroke, peripheral neuropathy, kidney disease, impaired vision, and amputation that has resulted in disability or has altered their typical daily routines. These participants, as a result of the variation in types and levels of disabilities, will receive services from a community agency, such as a home health care agency, an outpatient community educational program, and/or assistive living facility. These variations will contribute to a broader comprehensive level of insight into the overall phenomena of the research question: What are participants’ lived experiences of self-management issues that contribute to or prevent complications secondary to their Type 2 diabetes?

Flyers will be distributed or posted by directors/administrators of the various community programs. Interviews will preferably occur in participants’ homes. A self-developed interview guide will be used to conduct an in-depth interview with open-ended questions that will direct the interview process to explore transactions between participants and their environment in the occupation of self-management of Type 2 diabetes. The interview questions are worded to capture how changes in a participant’s environment (social, physical, cultural, and socioeconomic supports and resources, or lack of) may change behaviors that facilitate or inhibit his or her self-management of Type 2 diabetes. The questions posed to participants—selected to represent variations of age generations, socioeconomic conditions, status, diagnoses, and disabilities—will allow inclusion of a broad view of health.

CONCLUSIONS: These varied combinations will assist us in determining the fit between these elements and those that tend to be more congruent and will enhance promotion of participants’ behaviors, leading to successful self-management of Type 2 diabetes. The open-ended questions are aimed at exploring participants’ intrinsic needs for self-maintenance, expression, and fulfillment as represented by their active engagement of their roles. Data analysis will use a phenomenological thematic approach. This thematic analysis will allow individual and composite textural and structural descriptions to be developed in regard to the meanings and essence of participants’ lived experiences.

American Diabetes Association. (2014). Statistics about diabetes. Retrieved from http://www.diabetes.org/diabetes-basics/diabetes-statistics/

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2011). National diabetes fact sheet, 2011. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/pubs/pdf/ndfs_2011.pdf

DeWalt, D. A., & McNeill, J. (2013, July 26). Integrating health literacy with health care performance measurement [Discussion paper]. Retrieved from http://www.orpca.org/files/BPH_Integrating_Health_Literacy_Measures.pdf

World Health Organization. (2009). Milestones in health promotion: Statements from global conferences. Retrieved from http://www.who.int/healthpromotion/Milestones_Health_Promotion_05022010.pdf