Potential Barriers to Self-care From Free-Listing Interviews
| Potential barrier to self-care | Number of participants citing category* | Examples (quotations) |
|---|---|---|
| COPD = Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. | ||
| *Mean number of barriers to self-care mentioned by respondents, 7.7 (range, 5–11). | ||
| Compound effects of conditions | 14 | Can’t exercise for diabetes due to the breathing. |
| Physical limitations/adaptations to limitations caused by conditions | 14 | Hard to get around and do what I used to. |
| Compound effects of medications (therapeutic and side effects) | 9 | Medication for one affects another health problem. |
| Schedule and coordination of medications | 9 | Hard to keep on top of needing different medications at different times. |
| Total burden of medications | 6 | I don’t like taking all this medicine. |
| Side effects of medications | 5 | Medicine for blood pressure makes me feel bad. |
| Lack of knowledge about conditions | 8 | I didn’t know you could treat diabetes. |
| Financial constraints | 8 | Need to pay for medicines ... financial issues. |
| Low self-efficacy or sense of loss of control | 8 | Feel like I’m falling apart. This has been a bad year. |
| Burden of the dominant effect of a single condition | 8 | Loss of vision is worse than COPD or arthritis. |
| Emotional impact of diseases | 7 | List of problems makes me worry about health. |
| Inadequate communication with providers | 7 | Not everybody is the same and needs the same treatment. |
| Need for or use of social support | 7 | It’s a team effort between the two of us [husband and wife]. |
| Logistical issues | 3 | Have to go to the doctor more. |
| Need for understanding conditions. | 3 | Society, parents, teachers need to try to understand chronic |