Communicating Care in Insulin Therapy

Abstract

The current study was carried out to find out patients’ needs related to insulin therapy, and to understand the current practices and missing links from the public health perspective. The study was conducted in urban Delhi. The sample was selected using the multi-stage sampling technique. Structured interviews were used to collect data from respondents. In all, 279 interviews were conducted, out of which 96 respondents were patients of type 1 and 183 of type 2 diabetes. The patients participating in the study were taking at least one shot of insulin per day. Findings indicate that diagnosis of diabetes is a stressful event in an individual's life, and insulin therapy adds to this stress. This needs special attention from doctors and family members considering its psychological impact, which is missing in currently available treatment practices. It was also found that the whole emphasis of treat-ment was on curative aspects rather than preventive and promotive aspects given that diabetes is an emerging public health problem. Further, the study highlights various other associated factors that need to be addressed from the patient's perspective.