Problem Statement and Background
At the moment, one of the most worrying problems for the health sector is the spread of type 2 diabetes among the African American population. There are several factors that contribute to this circumstance, including the socio-economic status of individuals, lack of education, and limited resources. There is a relatively sufficient number of studies examining this problem, given its severity and the danger it poses to the well-being of this population group.
Thus, the qualitative question in the framework of this work will be “How do barriers faced by the African American population in the United States in accessing healthcare services to manage and prevent type 2 diabetes influence their quality of life and healthcare intelligence?” A search for an article that can be used to answer this question will be conducted through the Google Scholar database. To ensure relevance, reliability, and credibility, the source must be written within the last five years. To get the best results, the keywords “type 2 diabetes in the African American population,” “limited access,” and “quality of life” were used.
Review of the Article
As an article that will be investigated based on the qualitative question posed, the work by Campbell and Egede (2020) titled “Individual-, community-, and health system–level barriers to optimal type 2 diabetes care for inner-city African Americans: an integrative review and model development” was chosen. Firstly, this source is clearly related to the specified problem, population, setting, and outcomes. This aspect provides a review of the African American population with type 2 diabetes, a study of the limitations of this population group, and the provision of an approach that can lead to more positive results in solving the problem.
In order to obtain the most valuable data in the course of empirical activity, researchers applied specific designs and methods. Authors stated that “PRISMA guidelines were followed to search PubMed, PsycInfo, and CINAHL systematically, and integration of models was based on underlying principles of social-ecological models” (Campbell & Egede, 2020, p. 11). In addition, the design of the study included the examination of 4,000 articles, each of which identified specific barriers for a selected group of the population. Lack of knowledge, social support, and self-management support were identified as the most critical.
The study’s results made a valuable contribution to answering the posed question. This aspect is due to their provision of an understanding of the fundamental limitation that hinders the achievement of high-quality health for the African American population (Ryan et al., 2007). Researchers have shown that the main issue is that currently, “the focus is placed at the health systems level, with a minimal focus towards addressing individual- and community-level barriers” (Campbell & Egede, 2020, p. 11).
The results also indicated that a person-centered approach to diabetes management should be incorporated within the framework of the model for expanding access to health services. The author developed my trust in their process, as they showed connections between the raw data and final outcomes. This aspect took place through a clear analysis and description of the information received. External validity is provided due to the fact that it explores the interaction of various external factors on unique barriers faced by inner-city African Americans for type 2 diabetes care. Internal validity is ensured by the provision of the correlation between such individual barriers as the lack of education of patients and the quality of their health.
Discussion
The study chosen for this work can be applied to clinical practice. This can be realized by providing awareness regarding the problem of limited access to the African American population with type 2 diabetes to medical services. Moreover, the study provides valuable information about the main barriers in this context and the model that can contribute to their limitation. This aspect has a direct implication for nursing practice, public health, or health policy (Nikitara et al., 2019). The weak side of this article is the inclusion of urban or inner-city populations, which implies the possibility of exclusion of people with type 2 diabetes not belonging to this group. Thus, the central gap in knowledge requiring further research is the study of a broader group of patients.
References
Campbell, J. A., & Egede, L. E. (2020). Individual-, community-, and health system–level barriers to optimal type 2 diabetes care for inner-city African Americans: an integrative review and model development. The Diabetes Educator, 46(1), 11-27.
Nikitara, M., Constantinou, C. S., Andreou, E., & Diomidous, M. (2019). The role of nurses and the facilitators and barriers in diabetes care: a mixed methods systematic literature review. Behavioral Sciences, 9(6), 61.
Ryan, F., Coughlan, M., & Cronin, P. (2007). Step-by-step guide to critiquing research. Part 2: Qualitative research. British Journal of Nursing, 16(12), 738-744.