Diabetes mellitus is a common chronic disease all over the world. Self-management plays a crucial role in diabetes management. The purpose of this systematic review was to summarize what is known about the interactions between adult persons with diabetes, their family, and diabetes self-management. MEDLINE, CINAHL, PSYCHINFO, LINDA, and MEDIC databases were searched for the years 2000 to 2011 and for English language articles, and the reference lists of the studies included were reviewed to capture additional studies. The findings indicate that family members have influence on the self-management of adult persons with diabetes. The support from family members plays a crucial role in maintaining lifestyle changes and optimizing diabetes management. Diabetes and its treatment also affect the life of family members in several ways, causing, for example, different types of psychological distress. More attention should be paid to family factors in diabetes management among adult persons.

In a clinical context, nurses should be aware of the symptoms of violence, and they should have skills in dealing with intimate moral and spiritual issues.

Future research is needed about mothers' experiences using supplementation methods, test-weighing, exploring experiences of mothers of late-preterm infants, and the validity of the concept of coping with this phenomenon.

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The results have a number of practical applications for nursing, both for clinical practice and research. The results can be used in paediatric hospital wards caring for chronically ill children and their families. The five domains of family health promotion described here should be tested in other paediatric wards and in other geographical locations.