“Sometimes You Just Need People around You Who Understand You”: A Qualitative Study of Everyday Life at a Residential Care Unit for Young People with Diabetes

Lise Bro Johansen and Dan Grabowski
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Lise Bro Johansen: Steno Diabetes Center Copenhagen, Health Promotion Research, Niels Steensens Vej 2, 2820 Gentofte, Denmark
Dan Grabowski: Steno Diabetes Center Copenhagen, Health Promotion Research, Niels Steensens Vej 2, 2820 Gentofte, Denmark

Social Sciences, 2021, vol. 10, issue 2, 1-13

Abstract: Solglimt is the only long-term residential care facility in Denmark for young people with diabetes who, for various reasons, are particularly exposed or vulnerable. This target group is characterized by poorly regulated diabetes and psychosocial challenges. As this unique setting and specific target group has not been studied before, we designed a qualitative sociological study of the experiences and perceptions of everyday life from the perspectives of current and former residents as well as from those of the residential care social workers (RCSWs). We also studied the specific care practices at Solglimt. The dataset consists of nine days of participatory observations, 29 semi-structured individual interviews with three target groups (9 current residents, 8 former residents and 12 RCSWs) and three participatory workshops. All data were analyzed using radical hermeneutics. The analysis produced four main themes: (1) In it together, like a family—feeling different among peers, (2) Social workers as substitutes for parents and healthcare professionals, (3) Individualization—Increased self-confidence and autonomy, and (4) Tacit knowledge and illness behavior automation. The findings show that the residential care facility is a family-like setting with a strong focus on individualization, which enables new illness behaviors and perceptions. The results offer important steps towards developing improved diabetes care strategies through individualized informal knowledge sharing. Furthermore, the results are applicable to general clinical diabetes care for vulnerable or low-resource children and young people with diabetes.

Keywords: diabetes; residential care; young people; social workers; qualitative research; psychosocial effects; illness behavior (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A B N P Y80 Z00 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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