Erfaringer knyttet til å leve med type 1 diabetes fra et pasientperspektiv. En kvalitativ studie

The present study is based on patient experiences of living with type 1 diabetes, and is rooted in a perspective based on the phenomenology of the body. A number of life-quality studies linked to diabetes type 1 have been published, but few address what lies beyond the numbers. The purpose of the present study is to generate indepth knowledge about how patients living with type 1 diabetes face everyday challenges, and how they experience living with this disease. The research material has been collected through 10 semi-structured, qualitative in-depth interviews. The informants were chosen strategically; 7 women and 3 men between the ages of 18-54. The analytical process drew on Malteruds (2003) analytical framework with decontextualization and recontextualization of transcribed interviews as a central element. The results of this study demonstrate how living with type 1 diabetes involves challenges that affect the lives of the informants in a profound manner. The often one-sided focus of the health service on numerical values associated with metabolic control appears in contrast to patients' need for a broader approach to the problems. The informants experience that primary care physicians in particular lack knowledge of the complexities involved. However, in meeting with the specialist health care, the challenges are faced through a more complete and holistic health service. The new challenge now lies in availability. Being able to regulate ones own blood glucose levels has enabled greater autonomy and new opportunities for diabetes patients, but frequently it also places the responsibility of the treatment process to a greater extent on the patients themselves