Selected Country
The problem of diabetes affects people worldwide, causing irreparable damage to their health and reducing the quality of their lives. Australia is one of the countries where the rates of diabetes are among the highest, with the number of patients having reached 159,000,000 in 2017 and continuing to grow at an alarming 15% rate (International Diabetes Federation, 2017). Therefore, it is crucial to develop a nursing strategy for managing the problem by building awareness and increasing the extent to which a nursing strategy that can reach the residents of remote areas.
Three Reasons for High Percentage of Diabetes Patients
The issue of diabetes has been spinning out of control in Australia lately, requiring an immediate response and reducing the chances of patients maintaining the quality of their lives at the desired level. There are currently several opinions regarding the problem of diabetes in Australia. To explore the issue, one should keep in mind the difference between type I and type II diabetes. While the former is defined as autoimmune and occurs most often in children, type II diabetes occurs once insulin production stops in a patient’s body (International Diabetes Federation, 2017). In Australia, type II diabetes is prevalent (Dunbar, 2017).
In the target demographic, diabetes leads to a higher death rate due to the comorbid issues associated with respiratory problems, cardiovascular disease, and other concerns (Dunbar, 2017). Three types of reasons for diabetes to have become a major public health issue in Australia have been identified.
Socioeconomic concerns remain an important factor that affects the rise in the number of diabetes patients. The inability to assist indigenous populations living in remote areas is the first reason for diabetes to remain a threat to Australians (Ferguson et al., 2017). Therefore, it is crucial to expand the existing nursing and healthcare services to cater to the needs of disadvantaged communities.
The levels of health education and overall health awareness among indigenous Australians and vulnerable groups, in general, also represent a major reason for concern. Due to the lack of awareness and low levels of health education among the representatives of the specified groups, the threat of developing type II diabetes and failing to address type I diabetes becomes extraordinarily high (Dunbar, 2017). The problem of poor health education is also common for economically disadvantaged Australian communities, in general.
The third reason for the disease to affect such a large number of people in Australia is the change in their habits. With new technological advances that have made it possible for many Australians to maintain a sedentary lifestyle, the propensity among the specified de3mographic to acquire diabetes type II has risen greatly (Ferguson et al., 2017). Unhealthy dieting habits have added to the problem, causing diabetes type II to affect increasingly more people every day (Ferguson et al., 2017). Therefore, an improved program for reducing the threat of diabetes will need to address the lifestyle issue.
Three Positive Activities (A Public Health Nurse Perspective)
To influence the described situation on a nursing level, one should introduce people to important knowledge about diabetes, its symptoms, causes, and management methods. A mass awareness campaign aimed at both indigenous Australians and the rest of the communities has to be created to affect the issue. As a public health nurse, one must educate the target population about the means of avoiding diabetes type II development, the management of type I and II diabetes, and the ways of locating health resources. In addition, a public nurse will need to encourage diabetes self-management among patients (Dunbar, 2017).
Thus, a nurse will be able to foster a positive attitude among patients and promote health education. Finally, a nurse should encourage patients to reconsider their dietary practices (Ferguson et al., 2017). With the application of the described techniques, a public health nurse will improve the future prognosis for the diabetes situation in Australia.
References
Dunbar, J. A. (2017). Diabetes prevention in Australia: 10 years results and experience. Diabetes & metabolism journal, 41(3), 160-167. Web.
Ferguson, M., Brown, C., Georga, C., Miles, E., Wilson, A., & Brimblecombe, J. (2017). Traditional food availability and consumption in remote Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory, Australia. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, 41(3), 294-298. Web.
International Diabetes Federation. (2017). IDF diabetes atlas. Web.