“Together We Can Return to Balance”—Eastern Woodlands Native Perspectives and Type 2 Diabetes: A Qualitative Study

Abstract

Purpose To explore the perspectives of Eastern Woodlands Native people with type 2 diabetes (T2DM) in the context of health beliefs, T2DM disease self-management, and family and community connections. Methods A qualitative descriptive method using face-to-face or telephonic semistructured interviews was employed with Native people ages 18 years or older who have a diagnosis of T2DM (N = 12) from an unidentified Eastern Woodlands tribe. The PEN-3 Cultural Model guided the study initially. Results The overarching theme “together we can return to balance” corresponded to 5 subthemes: coming to know life paths with T2DM, acknowledging the imbalance, negotiating my way forward, making important connections, and sticking closer to Mother Earth. Dimensions within the subthemes suggest why Native people may not be reaching T2DM treatment goals. Reasons include incomplete diabetes knowledge, difficulty accessing resources, and contextual variations in adoption of conventional diabetes treatments. Conclusion This study identified themes from Native perspectives about T2DM self-management and about prospects that may mitigate incomplete knowledge and support. Integrating indigenous health and wellness knowledge with conventional principles of diabetes care presents several opportunities for nurses to advance diabetes self-management (DSM) education and support. Including Native health concepts when educating patients about DSM should be viewed as desirable for holistic family and community involvement that is central toward preventing disease progression.

‘It is in our hands—Why wait until you are sick?’: Perceptions about diabetes prevention of Latina mothers in Mexico and the United States

“…The HBM constructs aim to explain an individual's perceived threats including their perceived susceptibility and severity of disease; their likelihood of action including their perceived barriers to prevention of disease along with perceived benefits of avoiding the onset of disease; and their cues to action and self‐efficacy for taking action and carrying out and sustaining health behaviours 7 . Several studies have examined perceptions of high‐risk minority populations, such as American Indian, Alaskan Native, Black and African‐American, and Latino/Hispanic individuals in the United States 9–15 . While bi‐national studies have examined diabetes risk in Mexico and the United States, most have been cross‐sectional quantitative assessments limited to populations along the US‐Mexico border 16,17 .…”

“…7 Several studies have examined perceptions of high-risk minority populations, such as American Indian, Alaskan Native, Black and African-American, and Latino/Hispanic individuals in the United States. [9][10][11][12][13][14][15] While bi-national studies have examined diabetes risk in Mexico and the United States, most have been cross-sectional quantitative assessments limited to populations along the US-Mexico border. 16,17 To our knowledge, this study is amongst the first assessments of the perceptions of diabetes in US Latinx mothers alongside Mexican mothers living in central Mexico.…”