Exploring the strategies to overcome diabetes-related stigma in patients’ family: A qualitative study

Introduction: Asian countries, including Iran, experience diabetes-related stigma. Since a stigma-free identity is necessary for optimal diabetes management, the necessity of efforts to reduce diabetes-related stigma has been emphasized. This study aimed to explore the strategies to overcome diabetes-related stigma at the family level in Iran.

Methods: Seventy-four volunteered people (people with diabetes, family members, non-diabetic people, and healthcare personnel) participated in a qualitative content analysis study to extract the anti-stigma strategies. Data collection was done until data saturation through unstructured in-depth face-to-face interviews, focus groups, Email, short message service (SMS), and telephone interviews. All audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim data were analyzed using the conventional content analysis approach.

Results: Participants were raised “empowering families of people with diabetes” that would be possible through “family education” and “family-group formation”. Educating families about “stigmatizing behavior”, “coping skills”, “accepting the person with diabetes as the main responsible person for disease control”, and “diabetes” is necessary to help families by creating a free-stigma atmosphere. All the training could be programmed in peer groups of families to facilitate goal achievement.

Conclusion: Some obtained strategies have been suggested for other stigmatizing conditions like tuberculosis or mental health. However, it must be noticed that every condition is specific and also each stigmatized person is unique and is affected by complex factors. So it is impossible to develop generic stigma reduction interventions for all health conditions. Most studies on stigma have considered families a part of society and have proposed general strategies for them.