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The purpose of the research
This study purposed to address the challenges facing older diabetic patients living in rural settings by using their narratives to illuminate their lived experiences and perceptions as they relate to the self-management of insulin-dependent diabetes (George & Thomas, 2010)
The research question
The implied research question is, what are the most significant issues associated with the self-management of diabetes among the elderly?
The research design of the study
The research used a qualitative research approach and a phenomenology design, as demonstrated by the fact that the participants were requested to provide a direct description of their lived experiences without considering issues such as causative mechanisms and psychological origin. This design allowed participants to describe their lived experiences on their own terms through the use of components such as bracketing and phenomenological reduction (George & Thomas, 2010).
The population (sample) for the study
The sample comprised ten elderly people who were purposively selected based on factors such as age, capacity to speak English, willingness to talk at length about their diabetic condition, length of time with diabetes, and evidence of diabetes-related complications.
The sample for the research design
The sample size of 10 was adequate for the selected research design as most phenomenological studies use smaller samples of between 6 and 12 participants.
The data collection procedure
Face-to-face interviews that lasted from 1 to 2 hours were used to collect data from the study participants. The interviews were conducted at the participants convenience, and no explicit instructions were provided by the researchers apart from the usual prompts. Data on self-management issues for diabetes were collected after the interviews using a brief survey.
The data analysis after collection
Data from the interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim, after which the transcripts were read and re-read while listening to the recordings to ensure transcription accuracy. The transcripts were then re-read aloud again to determine emerging themes in the data, after which the interpretive phenomenological analysis (IPA) was used to analyze the qualitative data with the view to identifying meaning units and themes for use in composing the ultimate thematic structure (George & Thomas, 2010).
The limitations found in the study
The limitations of the study were (1) the inability to generalize the study findings due to the environmental location and (2) the incapacity of the sample to include men and some minority groups that have a high incidence of diabetes.
The authors conclusions
The authors concluded that diabetes education should be predicated upon a nursing model that takes into account the insights and experiences of clients, as such an approach is likely to refocus the issue of diabetes management from mere compliance with doctors orders to addressing challenges that are associated with the self-regulation of ones own management regimen. The data that were collected on the participants lived experiences led to these conclusions (George & Thomas, 2010).
Advancements to knowledge in the field
The study advances the knowledge on diabetes management by showing the need for nursing care to include the patients cultural values and be provided in an environment that is responsive to the patients contextual world and lived experiences.
Reference
George, S., & Thomas, S. (2010). Lived experience of diabetes among older, rural people. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 66(5), 1092-1100.
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