How Does the Spirituality of Patients With Type 2 Diabetes Influence Their Self-management?

Patients will be recruited from diabetes clinics.

The bio-statistical markers will be: include their living situation (living alone or with family/partner); date of T2D diagnosis; current age; glycated haemoglobin (hba1c) blood test; body mass index and current pharmacological therapy. This data will be collected from the Diabetes Clinic to contextualize the qualitative data. These measurements will reveal how well a participant is managing their T2D.

The Biographic Narrative Interpretive Method (BNIM) will involve interviews with eight participants. Each participant will have at least 2 and possibly 3 interviews at a location of their choice. The data will undergo thematic analysis, which will be interpreted.

The results will be used to encourage clinicians to consider the spirituality of people with T2D when planning their care, thus giving holistic treatment.

Inclusion criteria

• Speak English
• Have had T2D at least 6 months.
• Have read the Participant Information Sheet, explaining this study is regarding T2D, spirituality, coping and self-management.
• Gives consent to access their diabetes details that are stored on a Clinic database.
• Gives consent to recorded interviews.

Exclusion criteria

• Not speak English.
• Have had T2D less than 6 months.
• Have read the Participant Information Sheet, and decided they are not comfortable talking about their T2D, or spirituality, or coping or their self-management.
• Not consenting to data collection from Clinic records.
• Clinic records have not been kept (e.g. is a new patient to their family doctor).
• Consent is withdrawn from the study (which could be any stage).