Aggregate Description
Hispanic subgroups in the United States include Mexicans (66.9%), Central/South Americans (14.3%), Puerto Ricans (8.6%), and Cubans 3.6%). A recent study that was carried out among the Hispanics indicated that only 22.5% earn more than 35,600 US dollars per annum, 57% are high school graduates, and 67.5% boast of healthcare insurance (Hompesch et al., 2014). Among the Mexican-American Hispanics, the prevalence of type-2 diabetes is approximately 10.4% and 5.2% among the non-Hispanic population. According to Hompesch et al. (2014), the disease is predominant amongst the males (9.9%) as compared to females (11%). This paper adopts the DSME (Diabetes Self-Management Education) theory for alleviating diabetes amongst the minority ethnic groups.
Other factors that increase the vulnerability of Hispanics to type-2 diabetes include lifestyle, ethnicity, age, overweight, obesity, and biological factors. For instance, the frequency of obesity among the Mexican-American Hispanics who are above the age of 20 years is 65.9% among the females and 63.9% in males. These figures show that Hispanics are more likely to suffer from the disease than the non-Hispanics. A recent study shows that Hispanic communities do not perform physical exercises frequently.
The aforementioned statistics imply that Hispanics are highly affected by type-2 diabetes. Therefore, there is a need to adopt a health strategy to avert the sickening trend that has been prevalent amongst the population. However, the health remedy should take into account various factors that affect the vulnerability of the Hispanics community to the disease. Most importantly, the plan should also consider distribution of the malady amongst different ages of the population. Statistics clearly show that age, gender, socio-economic status, and weight management are some of the key factors that affect the distribution of type-2 diabetes amongst the Hispanics.
Three Levels of Prevention
Disease prevention refers to practices that are geared towards eliminating the chances of a certain condition with a view of averting its future effects on the susceptible groups. Various levels of forestalling such diseases include primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention (MuĢller-Wieland & Goldstein, 2008).
Primary prevention aims at precluding a condition that does not yet exist. This level targets the general population. Measures to avoid obesity such as sensitization of people to the benefits of regular physical exercises and/or restricted calorie intake should form the basis of primary prevention of type 2 diabetes. Therefore, susceptible populations such as the Hispanics should become the prime target groups to healthcare professionals (MuĢller-Wieland & Goldstein, 2008).
On the other hand, secondary prevention focuses on the detection of the malady at its onset with a view of executing early evidence-based interventions. In diabetes type-2, this detection is based on proof of messy starch metabolism, which can be assessed through oral glucose tolerance test. MuĢller-Wieland & Goldstein (2008) confirm that early diagnosis of type-2 diabetes contributes appropriate cure; hence, it reduces its progression rate. It also lessens adverse consequences that it can pose to the family lineage because it can be biologically transmitted. Secondary prevention is offered through a two-step process in which population screening is followed by interventions and proper medication as prescribed by health experts. Health professionals carry out both selective population and opportunistic screening on target groups such as the Hispanics.
Finally, tertiary prevention strategies encompass actions that are taken to delay the development of chronic disease complications. It averts the advancement of complications through early diagnosis and effective monitoring, treatment, and care of people with diabetes. Tertiary prevention also involves provision of appropriate medication and implementation of rehabilitative strategies. Measures at this phase include treatment of diabetics with drugs that prevent further complications that can result in lifetime incapacitation such as leg amputation (Pyatak, Florindez, Peters, & Weigensberg, 2014). Effective interventions at this level include strict metabolic control, provision of education to the affected group on things such as proper dieting and drug intake to facilitate effective treatment of the disease.
Conclusion
The vulnerability of Hispanics type-2 diabetes has raised international health concern amongst many professionals. As a result, prevention measures should be taken to reverse the trend. The project aims at determining the core factors that make the susceptible group with a view of developing mechanisms to avert the impacts of the disease on the Hispanics. Sensitization of people to primary detection and early diagnosis is recommended as a first step towards leading healthy lifestyles that avert possibilities of developing type-2 diabetes.
Reference List
Hompesch, M., Morrow, L., Watkins, E., Roepstorff, C., Thomsen, H., & Haahr, H. (2014). Original Research: Pharmacokinetic and Pharmacodynamic Responses of Insulin Degludec in African American, White, and Hispanic/Latino Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus. Clinical Therapeutics, 36(4), 507-15.
MuĢller-Wieland, D., & Goldstein, B. (2008). Type 2 Diabetes: Principles and Practice. New York, NY: CRC Press.
Pyatak, E., Florindez, D., Peters, A., & Weigensberg, M. (2014). ‘We are all gonna get diabetic these days’: the impact of a living legacy of type 2 diabetes on Hispanic young adults’ diabetes care. The Diabetes Educator, 40(5), 648-58.