Assignment

Qualitative Study: Article Review

The selected article for this discussion is titled “Fears and Health Needs of Patients with Diabetes: A Qualitative Research in Rural Population” by Papaspurou, et al. This is a qualitative research article which investigates the fears and health needs of insulin dependent patients suffering from type II diabetes. This research identifies various areas of concern which can be used by social workers as a guide to be knowing what interventions are needed to address the different fears and needs of diabetic patients. One of the evidences which shows that this is a qualitative research study is the fact that semi-structured interviews were used as the main research method. Fifteen respondents were interviewed including nine women and six men. As such, the article bases most of its discussion on evidence which improves the quality of the recommendations and conclusions which are conveyed by the authors.

Examples of questions which were asked during the interviews include; “a) Is there something that scared you when you were diagnosed with diabetes?” And “b) Do you believe a nurse would be helpful for you?” Papaspurou, et al. 2015. The article outlines the results from this research by listing the different kinds of fears and health needs experienced by diabetes patients. These findings have been used as the basis of making the discussion and conclusion for the article. The findings show that fear for family, complication, work, and life itself are among the patient’s fears whereas the needs include needs for psychological support, training, diet, and exercise. Generally, this article can be used to improve social work practice when attending to patients with diabetes.

References

Maria Papaspurou, Vasiliki C. Laschou, Paraskevi Partsiopoulou, Evangelos C. Fradelos, Christos F. Kleisiaris, Malamati A. Kalota, Anna Neroliatsiou, & Ioanna V. Papathanasiou (2015). Fears and Health Needs of Patients with Diabetes: A Qualitative Research in Rural Population. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4500317/