Lived Experiences of African Immigrant Males Ages 25-75 who have Type 2 Diabetes

In the United States, minority populations such as African Americans, especially men, have borne more of the burden of Type 2 diabetes when compared to their European American counterparts. Limited research has been conducted to explore this condition with regard to African immigrants, who make up approximately 4% of the African American population. In this study, a phenomenological approach was employed to explore how African immigrant adult men with Type 2 diabetes experienced this disease. The concept of informing culturally sensitive diabetes education served as the conceptual framework in this study. Participants included 8 men who provided data via in-depth, face-to-face, unstructured interviews that were audio recorded with their permission. Transcripts were analyzed using aspects of Hycner's method for analyzing phenomenological data. Key findings included (a) 50% of the participants had a family history of diabetes; (b) participants had initial negative reactions at their diagnosis and perceived that having Type 2 diabetes changed their lives forever; (c) participants lacked or had little knowledge about diabetes prior to their diagnosis, but they acquired extensive knowledge afterwards; (d) participants' struggles with dietary aspect of diabetes self-management persisted ; (e) participants expressed emotional connections to their homes and blamed coming to the United States for their Type 2 diabetes; and (f) participants offered advices to protect others. Findings of this study contribute to existing information about the daily lived experiences of African immigrant men who have Type 2 diabetes and enhance awareness and understanding of these experiences to inform program and interventions for coping with diabetes.