Abstract
Diabetes (DM) requires self-care that is demanding and may cause stress. Social support can buffer effects of stress. No previous study has been found comparing perceptions of foreign-born persons with DM, concerning the content of and need for social support with a population of origin. The aim was to compare the meaning of support and its impact on the life situation in Swedish- and foreign-born persons diagnosed with type 2 DM living in Sweden. A purposive sample of 74 persons; 34 foreign- and 40 Swedish-born, aged 32-80 years, diagnosed with type 2 DM, was included. The foreign-born persons were mostly Middle Eastern and Ex-Yugoslavian refugees. Mixed methods were used and data were collected by qualitative interviews and quantitative data collected by the Norbeck Social Support Questionnaire (NSSQ). Studying the figures measured by NSSQ, no significant differences were found according to gender but foreign-born men scored lower than Swedish, especially in emotional support and aid. The main findings showed that respondents, irrespective of origin, described the meaning of the concept of support mainly as information support in learning to manage DM. However, foreign-born persons also focused on medical support with regular follow-ups while Swedes emphasized the need for emotional support. Foreign- and Swedish-born persons are in general more similar than dissimilar in describing the meaning, need and impact of support. Irrespective of origin they want to learn to manage their disease and thus desire and need regular follow-up and information immediately from being diagnosed. Further studies are needed as the study is based on a limited sample.
Highlights
The concept of social support has been studied to a limited extent within the area of diabetes mellitus (DM) [1] [2]
The duration of DM varied from 0.5 to 39 years and most were treated with oral agents or diet (22/34 vs 18/40), and the number of persons treated with a combination of insulin and oral drugs was higher among Swedish- than foreign-born persons (p = 0.03)
Self-Reported Social Support and Networks Measured by Norbeck Social Support Questionnaire (NSSQ)
Summary
The concept of social support has been studied to a limited extent within the area of diabetes mellitus (DM) [1] [2]. No study has been found comparing foreign-born persons’ own perceptions of its content and what support that is needed in relation to the diabetic disease for a population of foreign origin. In foreign-born persons the acculturation process in the host country acts as an additional stressor, requiring further adaptation [4]. It includes migrational background, experiences of uprooting, and broken or limited social networks negatively affecting health [5]-[7]. Limited social support has been clearly shown to be related to denial of the disease [11]
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