Lifelong Learning With Type 1 Diabetes: The Lived Experiences of Adults Diagnosed in Younger Years.
Charlotte Gillrell, Peter Hellman, Malin Axelsson and 1 others
PMID 40765113WHAT IT FOUND
Adults with type 1 diabetes described learning self-care as a lifelong process of acknowledging, understanding, managing, and enduring diabetes.
Nurses may need to support ongoing learning and life changes, not only initial education.
Key findings
01Lifelong learning in diabetes self-care was described as a process of making meaning of diabetes as a lifelong illness, with subthemes of acknowledging, understanding, managing, and enduring diabetes.
02Participants said motivation to learn self-care had to come from themselves, and they learned through trial and error and accumulated experience.
03Managing fluctuating plasma glucose was described as a full-time job throughout life that could limit room to maneuver in everyday life.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
Only 20 adults were interviewed. Participants were recruited through Facebook and had to read and understand Swedish. The study was conducted in Sweden in 2020-2021, when diabetes care was expected to be provided by health care professionals specially trained in diabetes care. Participants did not review the transcripts or final findings. The researchers were registered nurses, including diabetes care nurses, and they noted that preconceived opinions could subjectively influence the analysis.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read these themes as evidence that a lifelong learning approach improves diabetes control or well-being. The study describes participants' experiences and does not test an intervention or measure outcomes.