Rethinking Diabetes Communication: A Social Context-Based Model

ABSTRACT

The argument centres around the notion that conventional biomedical healthcare models are behaviour change-orientated but do not cater for patients on an individual level. Healthcare systems need to acknowledge and support alternative medical therapy and also cater for the social aspect of the patient, which includes family support. This article attempts to make a case for the patient's social context to be incorporated in diabetes healthcare by proposing a new model for diabetes healthcare as a contribution to current literature. A qualitative case study design was used to explore individual patient perspectives on diabetic healthcare and treatment options within a South African public healthcare setting. Data were collected through interviews with diabetic patients, personal observation and document analysis. Findings indicate that problematic aspects related to issues of negligence and non-adherence need to be resolved by the healthcare professional, as recognizing patients’ social contexts and their lifestyle management can positively impact on such issues.

KEYWORDS:

• Social context
• biomedical
• alternative medical therapy
• family support
• qualitative
• South Africa
• public healthcare
• patient-centred care

Acknowledgements

The author received an NRF Thuthuka grant for her PhD research and thus would like to acknowledge the NRF. This paper is based on her PhD research.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

ORCID

Sabihah Moola http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3664-7319

Additional information

Funding

This study was funded by the NRF (National Research Foundation) Thuthuka grant awarded for PhD studies and the research is therefore based on the researchers PhD study [grant number 84403].