Meaning of life for people with diabetic foot ulcers: Integrative review
International Journal of Development Research
Meaning of life for people with diabetic foot ulcers: Integrative review
Article History: Received 20th January, 2021 ; Received in revised form 29th January, 2021 ; Accepted 14th February, 2021 ; Published online 26th March, 2021
Copyright © 2021, Amanda Cibele Gaspar dos Santos et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Introduction: Diabetes Mellitus causes several complications, among which is the diabetic foot, known as the presence of infection, ulceration and / or destruction of soft tissues. This condition is a source of suffering, causing depression and anxiety. Objective: To identify in the literature the meaning of the life of the person with diabetic foot ulcers, based on the philosophical theoretical framework of the Existential Analysis of Viktor Emil Frankl. Methodology: This is an integrative literature review, with searches performed at electronic databases: Virtual Health Library, Scientific Electronic Library Online and SciVerse Scopus, using the descriptors diabetic foot, existentialism, nursing and life-changing events. Results: The sample included 12 articles, emerging three categories: 1) Diabetes and diabetic foot. 2) The importance of understanding the experiences of people who have diabetic foot. 3) Relevance of meaning of life for people with diabetic foot. Conclusion: Logotherapy concerning Nursing knowledge has been used by nurses in their work considering the care of people in the finitude of life, critical patients, and their relatives/caregivers, as well as people undergoing cancer treatment, however there are no studies of the Meaning of life related to diabetic foot.