Experiential knowledge and peer support in type 1 diabetes: insights from endurance running communities
Abstract
Background: Managing type 1 diabetes (T1D) during endurance running requires highly individualized strategies, yet conventional healthcare offers limited sport-specific guidance. Peer communities have emerged as key sources of experiential knowledge, emotional support, and practical tools. Objective: To explore how endurance runners with T1D build self-management strategies, use peer networks and digital platforms, and integrate these exchanges into identity and daily life. Methods: Thirteen French-speaking adults with T1D who had completed at least one marathon or ultra-endurance event participated in semi-structured interviews. Data were analyzed using constructivist grounded theory. Two patient contributors living with T1D supported interpretation and writing. COREQ guidelines were followed. Results: Peer communities operated as informal educational systems that transformed individual trial-and-error into shared, actionable knowledge. Digital platforms provided rapid troubleshooting, reflective tools, and distributed mentorship. Role models facilitated confidence, self-efficacy, and identity reconstruction. Despite strong collective dynamics, management remained highly individualized through context-aware "micro-protocols" developed via safe experimentation and peer comparison.
Conclusion:Peer communities play a central role in translating clinical recommendations into real-world endurance strategies. Integrating peer mentoring, digital literacy, and structured reflective practice into patient education may enhance personalization and confidence for people living with T1D. Innovation: This study demonstrates how communities of practice and digital infrastructures can support experiential learning in high-variability contexts and illustrates the contribution of patient partners to qualitative analysis and manuscript co-construction.
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BibTeX
@article{vauthier2026experiential,
title = {{Experiential knowledge and peer support in type 1 diabetes: insights from endurance running communities}},
author = {Jean‐charles Vauthier and Lucie Cholley and Paolo Di Patrizio and Patrick Mas and Delphine Arduini and Bernard Kabuth},
journal = {Pec Innovation},
year = {2026},
month = aug,
doi = {10.1016/j.pecinn.2026.100500},
url = {https://hal.science/hal-05789509v1},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Experiential knowledge and peer support in type 1 diabetes: insights from endurance running communities
AU - Jean‐charles Vauthier
AU - Lucie Cholley
AU - Paolo Di Patrizio
AU - Patrick Mas
AU - Delphine Arduini
AU - Bernard Kabuth
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/08/22
JO - Pec Innovation
DO - 10.1016/j.pecinn.2026.100500
UR - https://hal.science/hal-05789509v1
AB - Background: Managing type 1 diabetes (T1D) during endurance running requires highly individualized strategies, yet conventional healthcare offers limited sport-specific guidance. Peer communities have emerged as key sources of experiential knowledge, emotional support, and practical tools. Objective: To explore how endurance runners with T1D build self-management strategies, use peer networks and digital platforms, and integrate these exchanges into identity and daily life. Methods: Thirteen French-speaking adults with T1D who had completed at least one marathon or ultra-endurance event participated in semi-structured interviews. Data were analyzed using constructivist grounded theory. Two patient contributors living with T1D supported interpretation and writing. COREQ guidelines were followed. Results: Peer communities operated as informal educational systems that transformed individual trial-and-error into shared, actionable knowledge. Digital platforms provided rapid troubleshooting, reflective tools, and distributed mentorship. Role models facilitated confidence, self-efficacy, and identity reconstruction. Despite strong collective dynamics, management remained highly individualized through context-aware "micro-protocols" developed via safe experimentation and peer comparison. Conclusion:Peer communities play a central role in translating clinical recommendations into real-world endurance strategies. Integrating peer mentoring, digital literacy, and structured reflective practice into patient education may enhance personalization and confidence for people living with T1D. Innovation: This study demonstrates how communities of practice and digital infrastructures can support experiential learning in high-variability contexts and illustrates the contribution of patient partners to qualitative analysis and manuscript co-construction.
SN - 2772-6282
SN - 2772-6282
ER -