Activity and Occupational Demands of Type Two Diabetes: The Voice of Mexican-American Older Adults

ABSTRACT

Type two diabetes mellitus has become a worldwide epidemic that directly or indirectly has impacted people everywhere. High incidence of diabetes in older adult Mexican-Americans poses serious, complex issues. Aim: The purpose of the study was to illuminate the cultural perspectives of highly motivated first-generation, bilingual Mexican-American older adults with T2DM, who accepted the activity and occupational demands and chose to follow the diabetes self-care regimen. Method: Emergent themes were extracted from focus groups using a phenomenological approach. Results: Themes were (1) “We had reasons”; (2) “Everyone had a different learning curve.”; (3) “Cultural issues made changing lifestyle difficult”; (4) and “Sharing helps us.” Conclusions: The inquiry revealed the shared perceptions and cultural nuances that may challenge Mexican-American people with diabetes, who try to adapt to lifestyle changes and occupational demands. Culturally-sensitive activity-based interventions that might facilitate self-care mastery were suggested. Future research is needed to facilitate OT reimbursement for self-care at the secondary prevention level.

KEYWORDS. :

• Adherence interventions
• phenomenology
• occupational science
• occupational therapy