Grants/Research

Abstract

Acceptable descriptors for people with diabetes suggests that clinicians recognize the complexity of living with the disease. Patients are not called "diabetics," inferring that diabetes is the central aspect of their lives. Instead, they are known as "people with diabetes." This sort of description of our patients implies that they are, first and foremost, people, and that their disease is yet another aspect of their inherently complex lives. Quality-of-life issues for patients with diabetes is a vital concern of clinicians. Qualitative research, by virtue of its subjective, intimate nature, reveals to us the complexities inherent in specific questions about patients' life situations. Qualitative-research methods do not allow for prediction, identification of causal relationships, or broad generalization. However, qualitative research is an important research approach to assist clinicians in understanding the quality-of-life issues impinging on patients with diabetes. In fact, if one accepts the premise that human experience is not reducible to its parts, then qualitative research is essential to understanding the human condition and its influence on the direction and course that the illness, diabetes, will take.