‘We tend to prioritise others and forget ourselves’: How women's caregiving responsibilities can facilitate or impede diabetes self‐management

Abstract

Aim The objective of the parent study was to examine attitudes and experiences regarding counselling about preconception care among Black and/or Latina women in the United States with type 2 diabetes (T2DM). Here, we present emergent findings from a secondary analysis of caregiving. Methods In this qualitative descriptive study, we used conventional content analysis to identify themes from semi‐structured interviews with 32 Black and/or Latina women ages 18–40 who have T2DM in the United States recruited from online platforms and snowball sampling. Results Caregiving responsibilities both motivate and disrupt diabetes self‐management behaviours. Caregiving largely meant taking care of children, but women also had responsibilities to adult family members and romantic partners. Women were motivated to manage their diabetes in order to prevent negative health effects on their children and to stay healthy so they could fulfil caregiving responsibilities. However, caregiving competed for time, energy and money with self‐management. Struggling to balance caregiving and self‐management caused stress that women felt was intrinsically unhealthy and undermined self‐management. Conclusions Young adult women with T2DM identified different ways that the roles and responsibilities in the family could affect their diabetes self‐management. Providers and policymakers should develop health‐promoting interventions that accommodate caregiving responsibilities.