Hello,
Some people may remember my request for questionnaire responses some time ago for my research about living with diabetes. I apologise that it has been so long since I have been on the forum and have not updated people who contributed as well as I should. I have been sidetracked by other commitments and have only started to analyse my data recently. I do very much appreaciate the contribution of people, it has made my research so much easier! I have written and update of my research here for anyone that might be interested.
Due to the character limit on the post I have had to split my post into two. I do apologise also for such a long post.
Summary of Research
The research is funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC); is titled; ‘The Everyday Geographies of Living With Diabetes’ and explores the ways in which diabetes affects the day-to-day life of a person, for instance when at home, at work, out with friends or family, travelling on public transport and the many other situations that occur during day-to-day life.
The aim of the project is to compile these experiences and present a picture of the way that a person with diabetes, both type 1 and type 2 as well as the various other forms, accommodates the condition within their everyday lives. Hopefully this research will give many people the opportunity to talk about the day-to-day struggles, stresses, difficulties and issues that living with diabetes can cause.
Human Geography
My discipline is human geography. Human geography looks into the human experience of space and place, often focussing on political, economic, social, cultural, health, gender and sexuality issues of a specific group of people in a specific location/region and relating the findings back to broader theoretical discourses. My interest is in health geography, which investigates the individual experience of illness and disability, for instance, considering the meanings that people attach to specific spaces and places. I wish to investigate the various meanings that people with diabetes will attach to various spaces in their everyday lives.
The overarching research aim therefore is to expand the, non-medical understandings of living with diabetes by examining, routine and often unreflected everyday experiences. In order to do this I have set the following questions as a basis for my research.
? How do people accommodate diabetes into their everyday life?
? What are people’s experiences of hypoglycaemia and hyperglycaemia?
? How do people with diabetes understand the wider public perception of diabetes?
? Have people experienced instances of stigma and discrimination because of their diabetes?
? What sense of community do people with diabetes have?
Diabetes as a ‘Contested Illness’
One aspect of my research has been to examine how diabetes is understood within wider society. In order to do this I have considered Pamela Moss and Katherine Teghtsoonian’s (2008) concept of ‘contested illness’, which they argue occurs when people with various illnesses struggle to have their experiences acknowledged in various different situations. They argue that various legal and private sector authorities can control a person’s illness experience by generating truth claims about the experience. They argue ultimately that, ‘the bodily based expertise held by people who are ill has enjoyed a far less privileged status than any of these more conventionally accepted knowledges’ (p. 11). Essentially they argue that there is a neglect of actually talking to and taking seriously the points of view and experiences of people who actually have illness.
I see something similar happening with diabetes. I believe a misunderstanding of the condition often emerges from informal sources such as second hand stories about a friend or a friend of a friend who had diabetes, painting a common understanding of someone with the condition as someone who for instance must take insulin or cannot eat sugar both of which are not true as treatments and diet can vary. But also from more formal sources such as misunderstood and often limited media reports about the causes and treatments for diabetes, that stress the poor lifestyle choices such as a bad diet and limited exercise as causes, especially type 2, which again is a misrepresentation. This argument has emerged from personal experience (I was diagnosed as type 1 in 2008), a review of online discussion forums; a preliminary online questionnaire that I have conducted and a diabetes literature review, drawing from various academic disciplines.
Questionnaire Responses
For the rest of this brief report I will quickly summarise some responses received to the online questionnaire that I have conducted as part of my research in order to illustrate how people live with diabetes. I posted this questionnaire for the first time a year ago and have since received many helpful responses. I very much appreciate all these responses and I thank everyone who took the time to complete the questionnaire. In the questionnaire people were encouraged to write as detailed responses as they wished. The summary below is not complete and is based only on an initial analysis of a sample (about 50%) of the responses and so is not necessarily indicative of my final findings. It also does not represent analysis from interviews that I have also conducted with people with both type 1 and type 2 diabetes.
Diabetes at Home
For many people home was considered as safe space for carrying out diabetes management practices. People replied that they felt comfortable at home and that they feel safer experimenting with different food and insulin doses. Some people also commented on the fact that being in public spaces can cause anxiety should a hypo strike and therefore viewed home as something of a safe haven.
However the home was also be envisioned as a place of drudgery for people with diabetes. Many of the people who responded to my questionnaire noted the inconvenience of having to count carbohydrates before every meal and having to test and inject every time they ate along with restrictions on eating certain types of food, which made meal times and food bland.
Some people may remember my request for questionnaire responses some time ago for my research about living with diabetes. I apologise that it has been so long since I have been on the forum and have not updated people who contributed as well as I should. I have been sidetracked by other commitments and have only started to analyse my data recently. I do very much appreaciate the contribution of people, it has made my research so much easier! I have written and update of my research here for anyone that might be interested.
Due to the character limit on the post I have had to split my post into two. I do apologise also for such a long post.
Summary of Research
The research is funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC); is titled; ‘The Everyday Geographies of Living With Diabetes’ and explores the ways in which diabetes affects the day-to-day life of a person, for instance when at home, at work, out with friends or family, travelling on public transport and the many other situations that occur during day-to-day life.
The aim of the project is to compile these experiences and present a picture of the way that a person with diabetes, both type 1 and type 2 as well as the various other forms, accommodates the condition within their everyday lives. Hopefully this research will give many people the opportunity to talk about the day-to-day struggles, stresses, difficulties and issues that living with diabetes can cause.
Human Geography
My discipline is human geography. Human geography looks into the human experience of space and place, often focussing on political, economic, social, cultural, health, gender and sexuality issues of a specific group of people in a specific location/region and relating the findings back to broader theoretical discourses. My interest is in health geography, which investigates the individual experience of illness and disability, for instance, considering the meanings that people attach to specific spaces and places. I wish to investigate the various meanings that people with diabetes will attach to various spaces in their everyday lives.
The overarching research aim therefore is to expand the, non-medical understandings of living with diabetes by examining, routine and often unreflected everyday experiences. In order to do this I have set the following questions as a basis for my research.
? How do people accommodate diabetes into their everyday life?
? What are people’s experiences of hypoglycaemia and hyperglycaemia?
? How do people with diabetes understand the wider public perception of diabetes?
? Have people experienced instances of stigma and discrimination because of their diabetes?
? What sense of community do people with diabetes have?
Diabetes as a ‘Contested Illness’
One aspect of my research has been to examine how diabetes is understood within wider society. In order to do this I have considered Pamela Moss and Katherine Teghtsoonian’s (2008) concept of ‘contested illness’, which they argue occurs when people with various illnesses struggle to have their experiences acknowledged in various different situations. They argue that various legal and private sector authorities can control a person’s illness experience by generating truth claims about the experience. They argue ultimately that, ‘the bodily based expertise held by people who are ill has enjoyed a far less privileged status than any of these more conventionally accepted knowledges’ (p. 11). Essentially they argue that there is a neglect of actually talking to and taking seriously the points of view and experiences of people who actually have illness.
I see something similar happening with diabetes. I believe a misunderstanding of the condition often emerges from informal sources such as second hand stories about a friend or a friend of a friend who had diabetes, painting a common understanding of someone with the condition as someone who for instance must take insulin or cannot eat sugar both of which are not true as treatments and diet can vary. But also from more formal sources such as misunderstood and often limited media reports about the causes and treatments for diabetes, that stress the poor lifestyle choices such as a bad diet and limited exercise as causes, especially type 2, which again is a misrepresentation. This argument has emerged from personal experience (I was diagnosed as type 1 in 2008), a review of online discussion forums; a preliminary online questionnaire that I have conducted and a diabetes literature review, drawing from various academic disciplines.
Questionnaire Responses
For the rest of this brief report I will quickly summarise some responses received to the online questionnaire that I have conducted as part of my research in order to illustrate how people live with diabetes. I posted this questionnaire for the first time a year ago and have since received many helpful responses. I very much appreciate all these responses and I thank everyone who took the time to complete the questionnaire. In the questionnaire people were encouraged to write as detailed responses as they wished. The summary below is not complete and is based only on an initial analysis of a sample (about 50%) of the responses and so is not necessarily indicative of my final findings. It also does not represent analysis from interviews that I have also conducted with people with both type 1 and type 2 diabetes.
Diabetes at Home
For many people home was considered as safe space for carrying out diabetes management practices. People replied that they felt comfortable at home and that they feel safer experimenting with different food and insulin doses. Some people also commented on the fact that being in public spaces can cause anxiety should a hypo strike and therefore viewed home as something of a safe haven.
However the home was also be envisioned as a place of drudgery for people with diabetes. Many of the people who responded to my questionnaire noted the inconvenience of having to count carbohydrates before every meal and having to test and inject every time they ate along with restrictions on eating certain types of food, which made meal times and food bland.
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