title: School-based lived experiences of adolescents with type 1 diabetes: a preliminary study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Diabetes self-management is challenging for adolescents with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM). School plays a crucial role in the adolescents' lives. However, evidence of inadequate quality of school-based diabetes care has been reported in the literature.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this preliminary study was to obtain an initial understanding of school-based lived experiences of adolescents with T1DM to serve as a foundation of future research.
  
  
  METHODS
  The Heideggerian hermeneutic phenomenological approach served as the philosophical underpinning for this study. Two Taiwanese adolescents with T1DM were purposively recruited. Individual, audio-recorded, semistructured interviews were conducted. Verbatim transcripts were analyzed through hermeneutic circle.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Participants described their school-based lived experiences as a dynamic learning process. Four interwoven themes were discovered: (a) learning to be master of their disease, (b) learning to find ways to feel comfortable, (c) learning to not be different, and (d) learning to not let others (especially parents) worry about them.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Diabetes care professionals, school nurses, school personnel, and parents should help strengthen resilience of the adolescents to overcome common social obstacles in schools. Creating a supportive learning environment is warranted to help incorporate diabetes management into their daily lives. Future studies should consider specific situational obstacles that the adolescents face to design effective interventions to improve school-based diabetes care.
authors.affiliation: School of Nursing, The University of Texas at Austin, USA. yuehling@mail.utexas.edu
authors.forename: Yueh-Ling
authors.initials: YL
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Sharon A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.forename: Sharon D
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Horner
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000293:Adolescent; D003922:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D033262:Narration; D012572:School Health Services; D012573:School Nursing; D012648:Self Care / Q000523:psychology*; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology*; D013624:Taiwan