| Abstract [eng] |
The Experience of Living in Young Adults with Type 1 Diabetes, Diana Noreikienė, Vilnius, Vilnius University, 2018, 71 pages. Type 1 diabetes is a complex chronic illness that affects more and more children and young people every year. We still lack knowledge of how young adults with type 1 diabetes perceive their illness, what kind of disease-related difficulties they face and how they overcome them. The purpose of this study is to reveal and better understand what patients with type 1 diabetes experience while living with diabetes and how they survive the control of their illness. Data of 6 participants (3 men and 3 women) with type 1 diabetes 24-38 years of age was analyzed. The study data were collected by semi-structured interview and analyzed by inductive thematic analysis. Results disclose that participants experience a sense of self-separation from their diabetes and often feel they are alone with their illness. The onset of the illness, the experience of diabetes complications or fear of complications remind participants of death and dying. Independence and the feeling of self-management, ongoing diabetes education, positive experience of childhood disease management, safe and maintaining contact with other people and a collaborative relationship with doctors, making sense of illness and hope recovery are the key factors, helping to live with type 1 diabetes. |
