Despite multiple attempts at managing some of the health issues that currently take priority in public health management, the foundational health concern of diabetes remains unresolved in the modern American community. Among vulnerable groups that are particularly susceptible to the threat of diabetes, one should mention the Hispanic population (Moreira et al., 2018). Therefore, to manage the problem of diabetes in the specified audience, a program geared toward increasing patient literacy, promoting awareness, and introducing tools for monitoring the exposure to diabetes in the target population will be developed.
Due to the active focus on prevention and threat management, as well as the active support of patients that have already developed diabetes, the program in question is believed to produce a noticeably positive effect on the levels of well-begin within the target community.
The program in question will target the local community so that it could assist not only Hispanic people with diabetes but also support those that have not yet developed the disorder despite the continuous exposure to it. In order to fully address the needs of Hispanic people at risk of developing diabetes, the program will be based on the SLP principles outlined in the paper by Scarinci et al. (2012). According to Scarinci et al. (2012), establishing a culturally relevant framework for assisting communities that are exposed to a particularly high level of a specific threat is critical.
Namely, the author specifies that the incorporation of culturally relevant tools such as intervention mapping (IM) produced strongly and unambiguously positive effects on the well-being of the target population (Vissenberg et al., 2017). Similarly, in the program at hand, the needs of Hispanic patients with diabetes will be considered through the prism of the key specifics of the community, as well as the cultural background of the patients.
In the course of the program, it is vital to encourage the development of key perceptions, enablers, and nurturers. Namely, those that encourage self-care behavior and allow patients to focus on the development of healthier lifestyles and a more reasonable dieting strategy should be considered throughout the implementation of the program. Specifically, apart from providing general information about the means of locating the symptoms of early onset diabetes, patients will be provided with the guidelines concerning the choice of dieting options (McCurley et al., 2017).
Therefore, patients will have to reconsider their current perceptions of nutrition and dieting choices so that they could build a healthier and a more effective approach toward reducing the aggravation of the condition in patients with diabetes, as well as preventing the development of the disease among those that are exposed to the disorder.
In addition, nurses’ perceptions of patient education, as well as their role of nurturers for the community, will need to be revisited. Namely, the existing communication channels between patients and nurses will be updated to promote a more advanced framework for information management and patient education. Finally, the influence of enablers such as media advertising fast food and other types of food that are potentially harmful to the target audience will have to be reduced, which can be done by promoting health literacy among patients using social media as the platforms for dispersing information (Wimer et al., 2017). Additionally, consultations for patients with diabetes, as well as free diagnostic tools for those that are exposed to the threat of diabetes development, must be provided.
At the same time, it is important to recognize the positive aspects of cultural empowerment that can assist patients in developing healthier lifestyles and accept the proposed changes in their dieting. Similarly, the elements of cultural empowerment that will contribute to a boost in the rates of patient education and the extent of patient-nurse communication must be acknowledged and incorporated into the program framework.
These elements of cultural empowerment will include constant feedback provided to patients and the opportunity for patients to share experiences and changes in their emotional perception of the problem with the nurse (Sofolahan-Oladeinde et al., 2017). The emotional rapport will play a paramount role in building positive reinforcement for patients to acquire the expected healthy habits and build diabetes-related knowledge. Thus, the gradual improvement in health literacy, wellbeing, and quality of life among community members can be expected.
Due to the lack of awareness concerning the causes and risks of diabetes development, as well as increased exposure to it in the target population, the proposed program aimed at increasing the rates of health awareness and introducing nurses to improved guidelines is strongly needed for the target community. The combination of focus on the needs of the community and the improvement in current guidelines, which, in turn, will enhance the efficacy of nurses’ performance.
The described measures will cause a drop in the levels of exposure to the threat of further aggravation of the condition, such as the emergence of comorbid issues such as pressure ulcers and chronic kidney disease. Thus, the needs of Hispanic patients with diabetes will b fully addressed, whereas nurses will be able to gain crucial new skills that they will continue to apply when managing the problem in question.
References
McCurley, J. L., Gutierrez, A. P., & Gallo, L. C. (2017). Diabetes prevention in US Hispanic adults: a systematic review of culturally tailored interventions. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 52(4), 519-529. Web.
Moreira, T., Hernandez, D. C., Scott, C. W., Murillo, R., Vaughan, E. M., & Johnston, C. A. (2018). Susto, coraje, y fatalismo: cultural-bound beliefs and the treatment of diabetes among socioeconomically disadvantaged Hispanics. American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine, 12(1), 30-33. Web.
Scarinci, I. C., Bandura, L., Hidalgo, B., & Cherrington, A. (2012). Development of a theory-based (PEN-3 and health belief model), culturally relevant intervention on cervical cancer prevention among Latina immigrants using intervention mapping. Health Promotion Practice, 13(1), 29-40. Web.
Sofolahan-Oladeinde, Y. A., Iwelunmor, J. I., Conserve, D. F., Gbadegesin, A., & Airhihenbuwa, C. O. (2017). Role of healthcare in childbearing decision-making of WLHA in Nigeria: Application of PEN-3 cultural model. Global Public Health, 12(6), 680-693. Web.
Vissenberg, C., Nierkens, V., Uitewaal, P. J., Middelkoop, B. J., Nijpels, G., & Stronks, K. (2017). Development of the social network-based intervention “powerful together with diabetes” using intervention mapping. Frontiers in Public Health, 5, 334. Web.
Wimer, C., Shipman, D., & Lea, L. (2017). Diabetes: Health Literacy Education Improves Veteran Outcomes. Federal Practitioner, 34(1), 32-36.