Social Participation of Diabetes and Ex-Leprosy Patients in the Netherlands and Patient Preference for Combined Self-Care Groups

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.