Exploring the experiences of people living with type 1 diabetes 1.0
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Exploring the experiences of people living with type 1 diabetes and their implications for psychological support.
IRAS ID
149818
Contact name
Michael Wilding
Contact email
Research summary
Type 1 diabetes is a long term medical condition requiring on going self treatment and behaviour regimes. When trying to think about what living with an illness may be like for someone, looking at physical symptoms, social factors and psychological well-being is considered a good way to fully understand people's experiences. By looking at an illness in this way (known as a biopsychosocial approach) it helps us to consider how people view the impact of an illness on many areas of their lives, not simply their physical health. It also allows us to see people’s strengths in particular areas alongside their difficulties.
There is a clear biological cause to diabetes and understanding of how this can affect people’s physical well-being. Furthermore, living with diabetes and managing it day to day often requires people to learn and use many new skills and strategies, some of which require a great deal of mental energy. This sometimes means that people living with diabetes experience elevated levels of distress. This is not the same as a mental health difficulty but often has a significant effect on peoples lives.
Previous research has found that for some people with diabetes, psychological support (such as talking to a psychologist, specialist nurse, or therapist about their diabetes) can help to improve mood and well-being, as well as improving diabetes control. By interviewing a sample of people with type 1 diabetes and using a biopsychosocial approach, this research aims to find out more about people's experiences of living with diabetes and use this information to think further about providing improved psychological support in the future.REC name
London - Surrey Borders Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
14/LO/1236
Date of REC Opinion
11 Jul 2014
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion