Participant Perspectives of Cognitive Rehabilitation for Type 2 Diabetes: Expectations and Impact

Purpose. To describe the experiences of people with type 2 diabetes who have completed a comprehensive cognitive rehabilitation intervention. Method. Nineteen participants with type 2 diabetes enrolled in an 8-week intervention consisting of 4 educational classes to learn strategies to improve cognitive function and an online training program at home to practice cognitively stimulating activities. Two focus groups were conducted as part of a study designed to assess the feasibility of the comprehensive cognitive rehabilitation intervention. Results. Three main themes were identified in the qualitative data: (1) expectations of cognitive change; (2) use of cognitive strategies; and (3) effect on diabetes self-management. Participants shared valuable insight into how their experiences with the intervention changed and how they viewed diabetes. Conclusions. While the participants did not initially tie their cognitive complaints to diabetes, they were able to show how and why they might use cognitive strategies to improve diabetes self-management activities. By adapting those strategies for diabetes, quality of life can improve as well as potentially glycemic control.