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Urban American Indian Experiences Living With Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus, Elin E. Kambuga, Yitza A. Arcelay-Rojas

Journal of Social, Behavioral, and Health Sciences

This qualitative interpretive study aimed to describe the experiences of 13 American Indians living in urban settings and their use of traditional healing and biomedical health services for type 2 diabetes. Urban American Indian adults living in the United States who used traditional healing and biomedical health services for type 2 diabetes were recruited for the study through purposive sampling, including snowball sampling. Thirteen participants completed semi-structured interviews. Participants reported positive experiences and barriers to traditional healing and Western biomedical services. They also discussed feelings of disorientation when diagnosed at a young age with type 2 diabetes but self-empowerment as …