title: Simplicity, flexibility, and respect: preferences related to patient education in hardly reached people with type 2 diabetes.
abstract: Individuals with lower income and less education are two to four times more likely to develop diabetes than more advantaged individuals. In response to this, there is a need for developing health promotion activities targeting hardly reached populations. The aim of this study was to examine the perspectives of hardly reached people with type 2 diabetes on patient education, focusing on their wishes and needs regarding format and approach. Data were collected through qualitative interviews with nine individuals with type 2 diabetes with little or no education and characterized as hardly reached patients by health professionals. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and analyzed according to systematic text condensation. We identified four main categories of preferences for patient education: 1) flexibility related to start time, duration, and intensity; 2) simple and concrete education tools, with regard to design and extent; 3) being together, related to meeting people in a similar situation; and 4) respectful educators, related to constructive patient-educator relationships. Insights into the preferences of hardly reached people with diabetes can contribute to the development of appropriately tailored patient education for this patient group.
authors.affiliation: Health Promotion Research, Steno Diabetes Center A/S, Gentofte, Denmark.
authors.forename: Rikke
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Torenholt
authors.affiliation: Health Promotion Research, Steno Diabetes Center A/S, Gentofte, Denmark.
authors.forename: Annemarie
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Varming
authors.affiliation: Health Promotion Research, Steno Diabetes Center A/S, Gentofte, Denmark.
authors.forename: Gitte
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Engelund
authors.affiliation: Danish Diabetes Association, Copenhagen.
authors.forename: Susanne
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Vestergaard
authors.affiliation: Region of Southern Denmark, Vejle, Denmark.
authors.forename: Birgitte Lund
authors.initials: BL
authors.lastname: Møller
authors.affiliation: Health Promotion Research, Steno Diabetes Center A/S, Gentofte, Denmark.
authors.forename: Regitze Anne Saurbrey
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Pals
authors.affiliation: Health Promotion Research, Steno Diabetes Center A/S, Gentofte, Denmark.
authors.forename: Ingrid
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Willaing
keywords: hardly reached people; patient education; preferences; type 2 diabetes