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Drawing on ethnographic observations of diabetes (self-)management in French-speaking Switzerland and semi-structured interviews with healthcare practitioners, people living with diabetes and their relatives, the chapter aims at shedding light on self-tracking practices of people living with diabetes. It explores the ways people with diabetes measure and learn to recognise body symptoms of hypo- and hyperglycaemia through self-quantification, and act consequently. In particular, the chapter investigates recent medical devices – continuous and flash glucose monitoring systems – that reconfigure the work of health providers and self-care practices. It shows the self-monitoring practices and the resulting self-awareness people living with diabetes develop in interaction with technology and caregivers in order to undertake embodied actions. By pointing out that new technologies have facilitated the access to personal body information and the sharing of it, self-monitoring is also questioned as a form of surveillance, opening up issues of power and control over patients’ behaviours. With regard to this, the chapter illustrates that, occasionally, people with diabetes resist ‘docility’ through micro-powers at the level of everyday life by refusing to engage in their use and by developing personal strategies or ‘tactics’.

One of the aspects that characterises neoliberal societies is the increasing attribution of individual responsibility. Citizens are required to commit themselves to adopting ‘appropriate’ lifestyles and to self-managing their health. Individual responsibility translates into a set of knowledge and techniques of self-governance, through which individuals learn and are expected to act in an increasingly autonomous way in order to prevent or mitigate health risks. This fostering of self-governance and individual responsibility affects both children and adults; in accordance with it, adults are required to transmit a sort of model of “pedagogy of responsibility” (Neyrand & Mekboul, 2014), through which children learn to acquire self-management of their health. This scenario becomes complicated if we take into consideration the two usual and contrasting representations of childhood in western societies: children as active subjects, or children as vulnerable subjects. Our work explores these contrasting representations through the narrations of adults and children of their experiences of Type 1 Diabetes.

Since World War II, rates of type 2 diabetes (henceforth diabetes) have skyrocketed, leading to talk of an “epidemic,” believed to result from formerly “adaptive” genotypes colliding with “affluent” postindustrial societies – largely their food excesses and physically undemanding jobs. Hence, experts describe diabetes as a struggle between biology and behaviors – “genes-as-destiny” and “lifestyles-as-choice” – said to have spared no social group. However, racial and ethnic minorities and the poor are affected disproportionately.

In this paper I challenge the “genes–lifestyle” framework and argue that the epidemic, particularly its distribution, is produced not by affluence but by poverty. The cumulative effect of malnutrition or hyperglycemia during pregnancy, of stunting in young children, of structural constraints over healthy lifestyles, and of the lack of a right to adequate medical care, which are all the results of poverty, leads to diabetes and its complications, and to disparities in their distribution among social groups. Hence, diabetes disparities are not mere differences but differences that are avoidable, unnecessary, and unjust. I also highlight selected conceptual problems of the genes–lifestyle framework that mislead about the potential contributions of genetics to human health.

I conclude that because the roots of the diabetes epidemic lie in inequities in social power, the solutions required are not medical but political, and ought to concern a sociologically informed bioethics. I also conclude that insofar as dominant accounts of the diabetes epidemic ignore or downplay these roots, they will legitimize research and policies that reproduce or even increase diabetes disparities. The paper is part of a larger project on the political ecology of diabetes.

This chapter is structured for teaching young learners with other health impairments in special education. Under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA, 2004), other health impairments represent chronic or acute health problems such as asthma, attention deficit disorder or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), diabetes, epilepsy, a heart condition, hemophilia, lead poisoning, leukemia, nephritis, rheumatic fever, and sickle cell anemia and adversely affect a child’s educational performance. The chapter is organized around definitions, prevalence, etiologies, intervention strategies, and teaching considerations for selected disabling conditions in this disability category.

Students with physical and health impairments represent a small but growing group of individuals with diverse educational needs. They are those students whose physical limitations or health problems interfere with school attendance or learning to such an extent that special services, training, equipment, materials, or facilities are required. Therefore, the purpose of this chapter is to discuss some of these impairments and acquaint both general and special educators with interventions for helping students with physical and health impairments succeed.

Research on Asian Americans’ health behavior has often cited socioeconomic status, race, language, cultural beliefs, acculturation, etc. as barriers to seeking health care services. Less is known about Southeast Asians refugees’ help-seeking process. In this exploratory study, we examine the illness experiences of Southeast Asian refugees with a Type 2 diabetes diagnosis, and consider the factors that contribute to their understanding and management of diabetes.

We used Pescosolido’s network episode model to frame our understanding of the ways in which Southeast Asians maneuver through their social support networks, face barriers in accessing health care services, and manage their diabetes. We interviewed a convenience sample of 16 adults. All interviews were digitally recorded, transcribed, and coded. Analysis was guided by the grounded theory approach.

Our findings revealed that Southeast Asians’ definition, acceptance, and management of their diabetes was largely influenced by various factors including: trauma and PTSD from their refugee experience, challenges of acculturation, illness experience, mental health, and access and barriers to health care services. The network episode model provides a blueprint for understanding the social and cultural challenges that Southeast Asian refugees face with regards to their diabetes.

Research limitations include the small and convenience sample used for the study, which does not contribute to generalizability. However, our findings contribute to the limited but growing studies on Southeast Asian refugees in the United States, and emphasize the need for health care providers to consider the illness experience, health beliefs, and the social context of Southeast Asian refugees with diabetes. Although the adults in this study were not recent immigrants, their immigrant history and experiences influenced their understanding and management of their diabetes.

Few qualitative studies focus on the health of Southeast Asians in the United States (Hmong, Laotian, Cambodian, and Vietnamese). This study has potential value for clinicians, social workers, and community providers serving ethnic minority populations, specifically Southeast Asians. In this study, older immigrant adults faced generational challenges that impacted their chronic illness (Type 2 diabetes).