%0 Journal Article
%T Social Participation of Diabetes and Ex-Leprosy Patients in the Netherlands and Patient Preference for Combined Self-Care Groups
%A Henry J. C. de Vries
%A Wim H. van Brakel
%J Frontiers in Medicine
%D 2014
%I Frontiers Media
%R 10.3389/fmed.2014.00021
%X Introduction: Earlier, we showed that neuropathic complications limit social participation of ex-leprosy patients, even in a non-endemic leprosy setting like the Netherlands. Self-care groups for ex-leprosy patients can strengthen self-worth of participants, prevent further handicap, and enable the exchange of coping strategies. For non-endemic leprosy settings with a very low rate of leprosy patients, a self-care group exclusively for (ex)leprosy patients is not likely to be feasible. A combined group with patients facing comparable morbidity would be more efficient than disease-specific self-care groups. Here, we studied the comparability in social constraints of diabetic patients and ex-leprosy patients. Moreover, we investigated if combined self-care groups for ex-leprosy patients and diabetic patients would be desirable and acceptable for possible participants.
%K leprosy
%K diabetes
%K stigma
%K self-care groups
%K neuropathy
%K social participation
%U http://www.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fmed.2014.00021/abstract