Navigating Diabetes Together: The Emotional Journey of Children Caring for Latinx Mothers with T2D

• In Event: 30866 - Culture and Meaning in Health and Medicine

Abstract

There is a shortage of research on the bi-directional relationships between Latinx mothers living with T2D and the roles children must play in supporting their mothers navigate it. There is more to be known about how T2D can change and/or affect the mother/child relationship and the toll it can take on the child’s physical and emotional wellbeing. This research uses multiple in-depth interviews with 11 dyads of Latinx mothers between the ages of 51-83 with T2D and their adult children between the ages of 18-63 (n=22)—located in the following counties of California: Fresno, Los Angeles, and Alameda. I employ an interpretive phenomenological (IP) methodology, and a Sociology of Emotions framework is utilized to understand the emotive experiences of participants. This paper examines four central themes from the perspective of the participants, 1) children’s experience witnessing their mother navigate diabetes management and the range of emotions that may arise, 2) children’s experience participating in their mother’s diabetes management by way of playing the role(s) of monitor and/or caregiver, 3) children’s fear of also developing T2D, and finally 4) children’s hopes and dreams for their mother’s health.
My findings suggests that a range of unfavorable emotions may arise for children who witness their mothers navigate and cope with diabetes. Furthermore, during the children’s journey of witnessing their mothers maneuver and cope with diabetes, there are instances when children must play a role in their mother’s diabetes management, and this can take a toll on their physical and emotional wellbeing. Moreover, children whose mothers are living with diabetes cannot help but fear that they too will develop diabetes one day. Despite the unfavorable shadow that diabetes casts over the family, children whose mothers are living with T2D hope their mothers take better care of their diabetes management and live long healthy lives.

Author

• Berty Arreguin, University of California, San Francisco