Diabetes type 2 self‐management among Thai Muslim women

Abstract

lundberg pc & thrakul s (2011) Journal of Nursing and Healthcare of Chronic Illness 3, 52–60 Diabetes type 2 self‐management among Thai Muslim women Aim. To explore and describe Thai Muslim women’s self‐management of diabetes type 2. Background. The importance of diabetes self‐management is well recognised. However, research on diabetes self‐management in Thailand is limited, and no such research related to Muslim patients with diabetes type 2 has been found. Methods. An explorative qualitative study using ethnography was conducted. The ethnographic method was based on qualitative interview and participant observation carried out in 2008. Orem’s self‐care deficit nursing theory provided the theoretical framework. Purposive convenience sampling was used, and twenty‐nine women aged 40–80 years participated. Results. Four themes of self‐management among Thai Muslim women with diabetes type 2 emerged, viz., daily life practices (dietary management, exercise, use of medicine, see doctor to follow‐up, self‐monitoring of blood sugar and use of herbal remedies), impact of the illness (feeling psychological burden of diabetes and struggling to control the disease), everyday life as before (maintaining religious practices and learning to live with the disease) and family support. Conclusion. The Thai Muslim women suffered from a partial self‐care deficit. The results underline the importance of taking religious traditions into account in the care, offering health education that helps patients cope with their disease, involving family members who can reinforce information given to patients, and increasing self‐management power and capability of patients. Relevance to clinical practice. When caring for Thai Muslim women with diabetes type 2, health care professionals should stimulate their patients to adopt a powerful strategy for modifying their daily life behaviour, and they should be aware of the existence of certain problematic behaviour of their patients. It is also important that they understand the roles of cultural background, religious tradition and family as parts of the basis for educational strategies aimed at helping patients successfully integrate disease management into their lives.

Religion and self‐management of Thai Buddhist and Muslim women with type 2 diabetes

“…The change of drug intake during Ramadan by several of the women is in accord with findings by several researchers (Aslam & Healy , Husain et al . , Bahammam , Lundberg & Thrakul 2011a). There is no medical agreement as to whether fast is safe for a person with diabetes.…”

“…Changes in meal frequency, daily physical activities and sleeping patterns during Ramadan may influence the glycaemia and other biochemical parameters in patients with diabetes. Although the Koran exempts sick people from fasting, many Muslims with diabetes do not perceive themselves as sick and choose to fast in opposition to medical advice (Husain et al 1987, Bahammam 2006, Lundberg & Thrakul 2011a. Naemiratch and Manderson (2006) found that individual explanations of control and adherence or resistance to medical advice are adapted in accord with Buddhist philosophy and Thai norms.…”

Type 2 diabetes: how do Thai Buddhist people with diabetes practise self‐management?

“…2009). In Thailand, in particular, Muslim women with type 2 diabetes have been found to maintain Islam religious practices to cope with their disease (Lundberg & Thrakul 2010). Buddhism claims individual responsibility for fate, and illness is believed to result from a person’s past actions.…”

“…Family support, which helped the people with diabetes cope with their disease, is an important ingredient in the Thai culture, where the family has an important role in the provision of physical, mental and socio‐economic support to people with diabetes (Lundberg 2000, Lundberg & Rattanasuwan 2007, Lundberg & Thrakul 2010). This is in accord with Bai et al.…”

Considerations in adopting a culturally relevant diabetes health education programme: An Indonesian example

“…Many Asians, particularly those in mainly Muslim countries such as Indonesia, believe that health is a result of self-cultivation. Humans are created by God and how they treat themselves will influence their health condition (Lundberg & Thrakul, 2011). Providing information to people with diabetes on how to manage their disease would be more convincing to patients if health professionals related the information in a religious context.…”