"I Don't Really Know What Diabetes Is": A Qualitative Study Exploring the Experiences of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Young People Aged 10 to 25 Years Living With Type 2 Diabetes in Northern and Central Australia.

Emma Weaver; Natasha Freeman; Shiree Mack; Angela Titmuss; James Dowler; Sumaria Corpus; Teresa Hyatt; Elna Ellis; Cheryl Sanderson; Christine Connors; Elizabeth Moore; Bronwyn Silver; Peter Azzopardi; Louise Maple-Brown; Renae Kirkham; Diabetes Across the Lifecourse: Northern Australia Partnership

Journal article

"I Don't Really Know What Diabetes Is": A Qualitative Study Exploring the Experiences of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Young People Aged 10 to 25 Years Living With Type 2 Diabetes in Northern and Central Australia.

Emma Weaver, Natasha Freeman, Shiree Mack, Angela Titmuss, James Dowler, Sumaria Corpus, Teresa Hyatt, Elna Ellis, Cheryl Sanderson, Christine Connors, Elizabeth Moore, Bronwyn Silver, Peter Azzopardi, Louise Maple-Brown, Renae Kirkham, Diabetes Across the Lifecourse: Northern Australia Partnership

Can J Diabetes | Published : 2022

DOI: 10.1016/j.jcjd.2022.04.010

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Our aim in this study was to gain an understanding of the experiences of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people aged 10 to 25 years with type 2 diabetes (T2D) living in Northern and Central Australia. METHODS: In this qualitative study, we explored participants' experiences of T2D using a social constructionist epistemology and a phenomenologic methodology. Twenty-seven young people participated in semistructured in-depth interviews from 4 primary health-care sites. RESULTS: Three major constructs emerged. Young people experienced a normalization-shame paradox in response to their diagnosis (partly related to that "everyone has diabetes," as well as the fear that frien..

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