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.

The aim of this study was to explore family members' experiences of everyday life in families with adult people living with type 1 diabetes. The grounded theory method was used to gather and analyse data from the interviews of nineteen family members. Six concepts describing the family members' views on everyday living with diabetes were generated on the basis of the data. Everyday life with diabetes is described as being intertwined with hypoglycemia. Becoming acquainted with diabetes takes place little by little. Being involved in the management and watching self-management from the sidelines are concepts describing family members' participation in the daily management of diabetes. The family members are also integrating diabetes into everyday life. Living on an emotional roller-coaster tells about the thoughts and feelings that family members experience. Family members of adult people with diabetes are involved in the management of the diabetes in many ways and experience many concerns. The family members' point of view is important to take into consideration when developing education for adults with diabetes.

Interprofessional education (IPE) aims at enhancing the ability of healthcare professionals from different disciplines to work together effectively, improving the quality of patient care. An interprofessional approach is essential in diabetes management, but there is only limited evidence of the effects of diabetes-specific IPE. The aim of this integrative review is to gather all relevant recent data on the outcomes of IPE on diabetes management. The search in the CINAHL, Medline and PsycINFO databases resulted in 1136 potential studies. An inductive content analysis was used to synthesize the key findings of the 14 studies found to fulfill the inclusion criteria of the systematic review. Two main categories and four subcategories of findings were identified. Firstly, the achieved outcomes included individual gain (e.g., learner´s confidence and motivation to treat patients with diabetes) and external benefits (e.g., benefits for the patient). Secondly, the experiences of IPE included both challenges (e.g., competing interests of different professions) and strengths (e.g., practical approach to diabetes management). In conclusion, the findings indicate that both learners and patients with diabetes benefit from IPE on diabetes management. Educators are encouraged to adopt practical IP approaches in diabetes education. However, it is necessary to estimate the resources available. More research is needed on the cost-effectiveness, long-term effects, and patient perspective of IPE on diabetes management.

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Background: Interprofessional education (IPE) can promote healthcare professionals’ competence to work in interprof­­essional collaboration (IPC), whi­­­­ch is essential for the quality and safety of care. An interprofessional approach is particularly important in complex, chronic diseases like diabetes. A number of studies have been published on IPE, but only a few with a qualitative approach.Methods: The objective of this qualitative study was to evaluate changes in medical and nursing students’ perceptions of IPC, induced by a novel IPE course on diabetes care. The data from focus-group interviews of 30 students before and after the course were analyzed by using an inductive and deductive content analysis.Findings: The students´ perceptions were illustrated as Elements of interprofessional care (e.g. Elements formulating care team and Quality of professional care relationship ) and Elements of IPC (e.g. Importance of communication and Valuation of collaboration ). The post-course interviews added one subcategory ( Need of resources ) to the pre-course perceptions, and there was improvement in ten areas of self-perceived competence in performing or understanding IPC on diabetes care.Conclusions: The IPE course piloted in this study increased the students’ self-perceived competence and confidence in performing IPC on the care of diabetes, and changed their understanding of IPC towards a more patient centered and holistic perspective. More research is needed to evaluate the generalizability and sustainability of these changes.