The position of self-monitoring glucose meters in the conceptualisation of diabetes in Malta

Abstract

As the Maltese islands continue to face an ever-increasing diabetes epidemic, this dissertation aims to examine the effect self-monitoring glucose meters, devices which have been rolled out across the country, are having on the conceptualisation of the condition. The data addressed within this study was collected through the use of semi-structured interviews and participant observation conducted over three months in Malta with five participants with type 2 diabetes and a leading healthcare professional. Through this fieldwork I was able to observe and interact with my participants’ lived experience of diabetes via a means that has so far not been capitalized upon; through the device itself. In doing so I was able to witness the complex and creative incorporation of the device and the condition, as my participants brought diabetes into the fold of their lives through the creative applications of their devices. Such incorporation stemmed from their initial models of disease, the body and health, as they fused everything into new conceptual models and conceptualisation rather than simplifying donning the notions and expectations of the medical system.