Older women and chronic illness: Transitioning and learning to live with diabetes

Abstract

The first line of treatment for people diagnosed with type 2 diabetes is a change in diet and an increase in exercise. If the blood glucose level is not stabilized, then hypoglycaemic tablets and or insulin may be prescribed. People receiving a diagnosis of diabetes must absorb complex information and adopt a new lifestyle almost immediately. The purpose of this study was to explore with women, and their family members, the ways in which the women learned to live with type 2 diabetes. Using a participatory action research (PAR) methodology we explored with them, the practical ways in which they transitioned at this time. In this inquiry 11 women recently diagnosed with diabetes were asked about what it was like for them in their first year since diagnosis. In this first year we journeyed alongside the women as they and their families learned to take the consequences of this chronic condition into their lives. In this article we show how the women in this study were transitioning with their illness diagnosis. The findings from this study make a contribution to our understanding of transition theory.