Strategies for enhancing information, motivation, and skills for self-management behavior changes: a qualitative study of diabetes care for older adults in Korea

Abstract

Suyoung Choi,1 Misoon Song,2 Sun Ju Chang,3 Se-an Kim4 1College of Nursing, Jeju National University, Jeju, Korea; 2College of Nursing, and The Research Institute of Nursing Science, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea; 3Department of Nursing Science, Chungbuk National University, Cheongju, Korea; 4College of Nursing, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea Purpose: To describe strategies for enhancing information, motivation, and skills related to changes in diabetes self-management behavior among community-dwelling older adults in Korea. Patients and methods: A total of five focus group interviews (three separate focus groups) were conducted with 12 older adults with type 2 diabetes and five diabetes educators. Qualitative content analysis was used. Results: “One’s own willingness and ability” emerged as a fundamental belief about the strategies for diabetes self-management. Six major themes under three categories were identified. Under the information category, the recurrent themes were: 1) repeatedly offering detailed knowledge regarding self-management, 2) providing information about current health status, and 3) identifying experiential knowledge of blood glucose control. The recurrent themes in the motivation category were: 1) ensuring a positive attitude regarding self-management, and 2) encouragement or feedback from significant others. Furthermore, in the skills category, we found that the following theme emerged: hands-on skills training with numerical standards. Conclusion: This study identified six tailored strategies for enhancing information, motivation, and skills for diabetes self-management behavior changes. These strategies can be used in the development of a culturally sensitive diabetes self-management program for older adults. Keywords: type 2 diabetes mellitus, self-care, aged, focus group, geriatric nursing