“I Had to Rediscover Our Healthy Food”: An Indigenous Perspective on Coping with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

Maya Maor, Moflah Ataika, Pesach Shvartzman and Maya Lavie Ajayi
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Maya Maor: Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Ariel University, Ariel 4070000, Israel
Moflah Ataika: Clalit Health Services, Siaal Research Center for Family and Primary Care, Division of Community Health, Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva 8410501, Israel
Pesach Shvartzman: Pain and Palliative Care Unit, Siaal Research Center for Family Medicine and Primary Care, Division of Community Health, Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva 8410501, Israel
Maya Lavie Ajayi: Gender Studies, Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva 8410501, Israel

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 19, issue 1, 1-16

Abstract: Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) is disproportionally prevalent among the Bedouin minority in Israel, with especially poor treatment outcomes compared to other indigenous groups. This study uses the perspective of the Bedouins themselves to explore the distinct challenges they face, as well as their coping strategies. The study is based on an interpretive interactionist analysis of 49 semi-structured interviews with Bedouin men and women. The findings of the analysis include three themes. First, physical inequality: the Bedouin community’s way of coping is mediated by the transition to a semi-urban lifestyle under stressful conditions that include the experience of land dispossession and the rupture of caring relationships. Second, social inequality: they experience an inaccessibility to healthcare due to economic problems and a lack of suitable informational resources. Third, unique resources for coping with T2DM: interviewees use elements of local culture, such as religious practices or small enclaves of traditional lifestyles, to actively cope with T2DM. This study suggests that there is a need to expand the concept of active coping to include indigenous culture-based ways of coping (successfully) with chronic illness.

Keywords: diabetes; the Bedouin community; social inequality; active coping (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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