and K.Weinger, “Understanding physicians’ challenges when treating type 2 diabetic patients’ social and emotional difficulties: a qualitative study,”Diabetes Care

OBJECTIVE—To explore physicians ’ awareness of and responses to type 2 diabetic patients’ social and emotional difficulties. RESEARCHDESIGNANDMETHODS—We conducted semistructured interviews with 19 physicians. Interviews were transcribed, coded, and analyzed using thematic analysis. RESULTS—Three themes emerged: 1) physicians ’ awareness of patients ’ social and emotional difficulties: physicians recognized the frequency and seriousness of patients ’ social and emotional difficulties; 2) physicians ’ responses to patients ’ social and emotional difficulties: many reported that intervening with these difficulties was challenging with few treatment options beyond mak-ing referrals, individualizing care, and recommending more frequent follow-up visits; and 3) the impact of patients ’ social and emotional difficulties on physicians: few available patient treatment options, time constraints, and a perceived lack of psychological expertise contributed to physi-cians ’ feeling frustrated, inadequate, and overwhelmed. CONCLUSIONS—Recognition and understanding of physicians ’ challenges when treating diabetes patients ’ social and emotional difficulties are important for developing programmatic interventions