Changes in social support and social influences reported by the participants in the intervention and control groups
| General objective | Patterns found in intervention group after participating in the intervention (n=17) | Patterns found in control group after participating in the intervention (n=10) |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Extending participants’ diabetes-related social networks, facilitating the exchange of social support and positive social influences. | During the intervention: 1. Change in norms towards self-management behaviours because of social influences from group members (4 respondents from 3 Dutch groups)* | During the intervention: Not observed* |
| 2. Group members positively influenced each other by encouraging a healthy lifestyle and the use of medications (3 respondents from 2 Dutch and 1 Surinamese group)* | Not observed* | |
| 3. Participants exchanged stories and experiences and felt comforted by each other—emotional support (13 respondents from 5 Dutch, 1 Surinamese and 1 Turkish women group) | Participants exchanged experiences and felt comforted by each other—emotional support (3 respondents from 1 Dutch and 1 Moroccan women group)* | |
| 4. Participants exchanged advice and experiences about nutrition, exercise, taking medications, and low and high blood glucose—informational support (5 respondents from 4 Dutch and 1 Moroccan men group)* | Participants received lots of information and solutions from group members about insulin—informational support (3 respondents from 3 Dutch groups) | |
| 5. Participants felt better because group members were worse off than they were (5 respondents from 5 Dutch groups) | Participants felt better because group members were worse off than they were (3 respondents from 3 Dutch groups) | |
| After the intervention: Visiting each other (4 respondents from 3 Dutch and 1 Turkish women group) | After the intervention: Not observed* | |
| 6. Exercising together (4 respondents from 2 Dutch and 1 Moroccan men group)* | Not observed* | |
| 7. Getting together as a group (5 respondents from 2 Dutch groups)* | Not observed* | |
| 8. Phoning each other (4 respondents from 2 Dutch and 1 Surinamese group) | Phoning each other (1 respondent from a Dutch group)* | |
| 9. Running into each other on the street (6 respondents from 3 Dutch, 1 Turkish women and 1 Moroccan men group) | Running into each other on the street (1 respondent from a Dutch group) | |
| 2. Increasing participants’ abilities to handle social influences that hinder their self-management, such as norms, peer pressure and temptations. | 1. Naming hindrances to self-management in their immediate social environments (eg, lack of support, responsibilities towards relatives) and knowing these are barriers (13 respondents from 4 Dutch, 1 Surinamese, 1 Turkish and 1 Moroccan men group) | Naming hindrances to self-management in their immediate social environments (eg, family responsibilities) and knowing these are barriers (1 respondent, group 9), of these: not knowing these are barriers (3 respondents from 2 Dutch groups) |
| 2. Naming facilitators to self-management in their immediate social environments of their own accord (eg, change in significant others’ behaviour) (6 respondents from 3 Dutch, 1 Surinamese and 1 Moroccan men group)* | Not observed | |
| 3. Better able to resist food temptations at home or at parties or more capable of saying no when pressured to eat too much or to eat unhealthy foods (7 respondents from 4 Dutch, 1 Surinamese and 1 Turkish women group)* | Being more serious about refusing food in social situations (2 respondents from 2 Dutch groups) | |
| 4. Better able to handle hindering social influences on other self-management domains such as smoking and taking walks (4 respondents from 4 Dutch groups)* | Not observed | |
| 3. Increasing the engagement and support of the participants’ significant others in self-management. | 1. Significant others prepare healthy food for respondents more often (5 respondents from 3 Dutch and 1 Moroccan men group) | Wife now cooks healthier meals (1 respondent from a Dutch group) |
| 2. Significant others help more with making healthy choices when buying groceries, and do not buy things they cannot have (4 respondents from 2 Dutch groups) | Significant others help more with making healthy choices when buying groceries (1 respondent from a Dutch group) | |
| 3. Relatives keep a closer watch on their food intake (7 respondents from 5 Dutch and 1 Turkish women group) | Not observed | |
| 4. More encouragement by relatives to eat (breakfast) on time, exercise and use their medications (4 respondents from 2 Dutch, 1 Turkish women and 1 Moroccan men group)* | Not observed | |
| 5. Significant others engage in DSM activities such as eating breakfast together, taking medications together and exercising (5 respondents from 2 Dutch, 1 Surinamese, 1 Turkish women and 1 Moroccan men group) | Not observed |
*These results were confirmed in the interviews with the group leaders.