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Developing a hierarchy of needs for Type 1 diabetes
Author(s) -
Beran D.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
diabetic medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.474
H-Index - 145
eISSN - 1464-5491
pISSN - 0742-3071
DOI - 10.1111/dme.12284
Subject(s) - maslow's hierarchy of needs , thematic analysis , medicine , hierarchy , health care , psychological intervention , information needs , qualitative research , nursing , knowledge management , psychology , social psychology , computer science , sociology , world wide web , social science , economics , market economy , economic growth
Aims The aim of this study was to use the concept of Maslow's hierarchy of needs and apply this to Type 1 diabetes. Methods Qualitative methods were employed using semi‐structured interviews with 101 people from 13 countries. Grounded theory was used for data collection and analysis, with thematic analysis employed to identify the interviewees' needs. Results Sixteen needs were identified and links between these were mapped. Aligning these with Maslow's hierarchy allowed for a hierarchy to be developed for Type 1 diabetes with ‘Policies’, ‘Organization of health system’, ‘Insulin’, ‘Delivery of insulin’, ‘Control’, ‘Healthcare workers’ and ‘Information and education’ at the base, as they were needed for survival. Next came ‘Community, family and peers’ and changing roles for ‘Healthcare workers’ in their approach to care and delivering ‘Information and education’. This enabled people to learn how to use ‘Insulin’, ‘Delivery of insulin’ and ‘Control’ flexibly. People's ‘Experience’ and ‘Personality’ then helped them ‘Adapt’ and ‘Be open’ about their diabetes, allowing for ‘Acceptance’ and viewing ‘Diabetes as something positive’. Conclusions Despite limitations, this work highlights that some needs are required for survival and others for well‐being. Some are tangible as they can be directly provided, whereas others are intangible and cannot be provided directly by the health system. These results might be used for policy and practice in identifying needs that are met within a health system or what needs are lacking for the individual to then implement targeted interventions.