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The diabetes experiences of Aboriginal people living in a rural Canadian community.

OBJECTIVE
To optimise participation with Aboriginal people by sharing experiences of living with the challenges of diabetes in rural south-western Canada, and how these could be addressed.


DESIGN
Qualitative content analysis of semi-structured and conversational interviews.


SETTING
Diabetes health services in the Bella Coola Valley, British Columbia, Canada.


SUBJECTS
Eight Nuxalk Nation participants, five women and three men, living with type 2 diabetes, were interviewed. Four of these participants, three women and one man, were engaged in six follow-up conversational interviews.


MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES
The descriptive research explored experiences of Nuxalk people living with the challenges of diabetes, and how these could inform diabetes health services in culturally specific ways.


RESULTS
Challenges included understanding the connections between (i) diabetes and western or traditional medicines; (ii) dietary changes, exercise and weight loss; (iii) how health professionals communicate and the relevance of what is said; (iv) having many life choices and the responsibility to choose; and (v) a belief in living day by day and an awareness of life cycles that may need to be broken.


CONCLUSION
The study substantiated the fundamental necessity for diabetes health services to be inclusive of Aboriginal perspectives.