Identification of the Problem
Type 2 diabetes is a form of diabetes characterized by high levels of blood sugar, resistance to insulin, and its relative lack. The chances of developing the condition depend on a combination of risk factors that include both the genetic background and the lifestyle. While the risk factors associated with one’s age, gender, ethnicity, or family history cannot be changed, the lifestyle choices linked to weight, physical activity, and dietary habits are possible to modify (National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Disease, 2016). If an individual is not physically active, does not make healthy nutritional choices, and continues such behaviors over prolonged time periods, the risk of developing diabetes increases. At this time, the individual at risk of type II diabetes regularly consumes fast food due to its convenience because she is heavily occupied by work.
Cooking healthy meals every day takes up too much time, and she has indicated that she would rather spend that time resting after a long workday. The job that the family member does is low in physical activity, she is at her computer most of the time, working with documentation. She has indicated that she tries to walk home from work sometimes because it takes around 30 minutes; however, it does not happen often. Consistent but straightforward changes in lifestyle can be hypothesized to help in decreasing the risk for the condition’s development. There is a high need to invest more time into cooking healthier meals and inserting more movement into daily life.
Proposed Solution for the Problem
Consistent and positive lifestyle changes represent the leading solution recommended for the family member. Researchers have widely explored lifestyle changes as being a continuous challenge that many women find complicated to maintain. According to Ahlin and Billhult (2012), women have shown to exhibit ambiguous feelings of others’ involvement in their lifestyle, experiencing deficits in knowledge, as well as finding reasons to justify not making any changes. It is imperative for the patient to overcome these challenges despite the inner struggles that make the experience of making modifications in one’s lifestyle.
To facilitate a change in lifestyle to include more exercises and change dietary habits, it is recommended for the patient to participate in a structured diabetes patient education program that would be evidence-based, culturally-sensitive, and delivered by trained educators that would provide support in both group and individual settings. Such a structured program for enhancing diabetes prevention education is necessary for the patient to understand her current condition and facilitate a positive change in her daily habits (Chong et al., 2017). Since the patient has indicated that she does not have enough time and moral power to facilitate a change in her physical activity and dietary choices, an educational program can be a good option for the patient.
Long-term lifestyle management and preservation of healthy choices are key behaviors that would facilitate physical activity, healthy eating, weight management, and other positive changes. Physical activity is essential for helping prevent the onset of the condition, reduce the risk of complications, and improve the control of blood pressure. Weight management and dietary modifications, such as the implementation of the Mediterranean or low-glycemic index eating patterns, have shown to be effective in improving the markers of cardiovascular disease risk, which are associated with type 2 diabetes.
With the help of an educational program, the patient is expected to develop a better understanding of how she can self-manage her health to prevent the occurrence of the condition. Effective-self management that relies on physical activity and exercises can facilitate the improvement of clinical outcomes, the health status of the patient, and the quality of life overall. These improvements are necessary to instil a positive attitude toward one’s health and can support the well-established routine that will be measured and monitored consistently. Self-management is the primary outcome of patient education and is expected to facilitate improved diabetes knowledge and self-care behaviors, which would further facilitate lower self-reported weight, health coping, and reduced costs of healthcare.
The current solution targets the lifestyle choices area because it has the most impact on changing the patient’s health trajectory. The proposed changes are universally applicable because they can be tailored to individual needs, preferences, and capabilities while also addressing psychosocial issues and related behavioral strategies (American Diabetes Association, 2017). Ultimately, the recommended solution will promote and support healthy eating patterns and physical activity to achieve and maintain body weight goals and delay the onset of type 2 diabetes. The educational aspect of the solution will promote self-management behaviors intended for creating balance in the patient’s life. While limiting caloric intake and replacing harmful fast food for healthier options may be challenging, self-management will slowly maintain the pleasure of eating and provide non-judgmental messages about appropriate food choices. Self-management will also ensure that individuals with diabetes have the practical tools for developing healthy patterns that will be pleasurable to them.
Description of the Solution
The solution pertaining to improving lifestyle choices that include dietary improvements and enhanced physical exercises may provide an individual with a high risk of type 2 diabetes with a set of defined tools, which can be used for creating an environment within which such choices will be celebrated. The lifestyle changes may not come at once, which means that small but consistent adjustments are necessary to integrate the new practices and behaviors. For the patient’s health and well-being, establishing a set of practices that would facilitate an overall improvement. With the help of an educational course that would inform the patient about the evidence-based best practices of preventing diabetes development, it is possible to facilitate changes that would enhance the quality of life.
The patient has indicated that her current lifestyle, including her work and dietary choices, is confined to a heavy workload, which prevents her from developing a more active and healthy routine to prevent the occurrence of type 2 diabetes. For the individual who has not been making particularly healthy lifestyle choices, the challenges of a new plan is determining what behaviors should be embedded into a new routine and how the plan can be followed (Buttaro, Trybulski, Polgar-Bailey, & Sandberg-Cook, 2017). Since there is no one-size-fits-all approach, the self-management approach will facilitate the engagement of the individual into the development of a personalized plan that will benefit her health
In terms of the specific behaviors and the ways in which they should be modified, the self-management practices are expected to give the patient strength to be more active in changing her practices. When there is a transition associated with healthcare, it is essential to identify the current behaviors and practices that either limit or facilitate lifestyle change. In the specific case of the patient, the lack of time that the person has to spend on preparing healthy food or exercising is the main barrier. With the help of self-management, the patient will have to allocate free time in her schedule to implement new behaviors. To overcome the obstacle, she may have to negotiate a more flexible work schedule at work. Moreover, a time management application can be a useful tool for managing the patient’s timetable and allow her to plan ahead for physical exercises and food preparation. Moreover, there are new services that specialize in the delivery of healthy pre-prepared meals or ingredients to make them in a short amount of time.
For maintaining the healthy lifestyle choices for long-term wellness, the patient is recommended to use the full availability of tools and resources designed to make lifestyle planning more manageable and less stressful. It is imperative to have a positive attitude toward the changes that she will be making to approach the problem through preparation and a pre-prepared list of goals to achieve. The support from the educational program is necessary because it will offer a roadmap to success, while the patient will adjust the proposed plan to her needs and capabilities. Long-term behavior changes cannot come at once to ensure the prevention of type 2 diabetes; rather, they imply small steps in the direction of establishing a healthy and fulfilling routine that will be manageable and effective.
Reflection on the Assignment
When completing the assignment, it was necessary to cope with some challenges associated with the proposal of a solution and its integration into the daily life of a patient. The positive aspect of the assignment pertained to making recommendations on the positive lifestyle choices that the individual can implement to reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes development. It was important to communicate the message of introducing the changes that will be positively approached by the patient and those that would enhance the quality of her life. There is really no universal approach to preventing type 2 diabetes because people’s lives, needs, capabilities, and situations are often different. Therefore, the proposal of lifestyle improvement changes, which is an integral component of the strategy, is the strong aspect of the current project.
When formulating the proposed solution to address the identified health challenge, coming up with the idea that would support the solution was challenging. Since the patient does not have much free time and support that would help her overcome the challenge associated with the lifestyle change, many methods seemed unreasonable and ineffective. The solution related to attending educational courses that would train the patient on how to make the decisions that would benefit her overall well-being and prevent type 2 diabetes from developing. However, it seems that additional considerations are necessary because it is unclear whether the patient will have enough free time to attend the courses. Therefore, if the patient finds the courses to take up too much of her time, it is necessary to adjust the recommendation based on her daily schedule and time capacity. Overall, the solution can be adapted, and it is essential to remember that the patients’ needs should be set as a priority of the plan.
References
- Ahlin, K., & Billhult, A. (2012). Lifestyle changes – a continuous, inner struggle for women with type 2 diabetes: A qualitative study. Scandinavian Journal of Primary Health Care, 30(1), 41-47. Web.
- American Diabetes Association. (2017). Lifestyle management. Web.
- Buttaro, T., Trybulski, J., Polgar-Bailey, P., & Sandberg-Cook, J. (2017). Primary care – e-book: A collaborative practice. Elsevier.
- Chong, S., Ding, D., Byun, R., Comino, E., Bauman, A., & Jalaludin, B. (2017). Lifestyle changes after a diagnosis of type 2 diabetes. Diabetes Spectrum, 30(1), 43-50.
- National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Disease. (2016). Risk factors for type 2 diabetes. Web.