Introduction
Diabetes prevention and management is an important issue when it comes to dealing with older patients because some of them lack resources, tools, and education to deal with the condition effectively. In rural areas, issues with access to care can be limited to the disease’s prevention due to the low health literacy of residents, shortages of physicians, and low incomes, which is why the topic was chosen for the current discussion (Nielsen, D’Agostino, & Gregory, 2017). The selected source is the article by Luo et al. who focused on studying diabetes-related prevention behaviors among the rural elderly residence of Hunan, China.
The Size of the Problem
Outcome measures for the study included their general information, including age, marital status, family history of diabetes, BMI, education, and the behaviors related to diabetes management. It was found that elderly citizens living in rural areas exhibited a high rate of harmful diabetes-related behaviors. For example, 57.6% of participants completed physical examinations less than once a year, 55.3% did not engage insufficient physical activity, 51.4% paid limited attention to controlling their nutrition, and 41% ate a high-salt and high-fat diet (Luo et al., 2018). The source is therefore essential for pointing out the fact that elderly patients in rural areas do not have sufficient resources and education necessary to ensure the effective management of diabetes.
Conclusion
The research will contribute to personal practice because it encourages healthcare providers to be aware of the limitations rural patients face and be more proactive in their diabetes prevention. It is also imperative to provide education to such patients and engage their families into the process of learning to boost their health literacy (Hash, Jurkowski, & Krout, 2014). Being able to advocate for the needs of underserved populations is also a part of work with older adults as they often cannot stand for themselves.
References
Hash, K., Jurkowski, E., & Krout, J. (2014). Aging in rural places: Programs, policies, and professional practice. New York, NY: Springer.
Luo, B., Zhang, J., Hu, Z., Gao, F., Zhou, Q., Song, S., … Xu, H. (2018). Diabetes-related behaviors among elderly people with pre-diabetes in rural communities of Hunan, China: A cross-sectional study. BMJ Open, 8(1), e015747.
Nielsen, M., D’Agostino, D., & Gregory, P. (2017). Addressing rural health challenges head on. Missouri Medicine, 114(5), 363-366.