Health-Related Website, Research Paper Example

Introduction

The website offered by the American Diabetes Association, www.diabetes.org and obtained using Google, addresses the importance of diabetes by promoting awareness and knowledge regarding the disease. The website includes a number of subcategories which address important challenges such as a description of diabetes, diet and exercise, advocacy, research, and other efforts that are important to patients with diabetes and clinical professionals (American Diabetes Association, 2013). This website is relevant because it captures a greater understanding of diabetes and its impact on patients and on communities. This disease is broad in its severity and scope; therefore, additional knowledge and information is necessary in order to identify risk factors, symptoms, and other considerations that impact patients either at risk of this condition or who have already been diagnosed. These elements are important because they may impact how individuals and clinicians view diabetes and its influence on patient care and treatment outcomes.

Analysis

The website offers different headers which provide subsets of information, such as research, advocacy, diet and exercise, donations, and communities, among others (American Diabetes Association, 2013). Therefore, the website offers an informational approach to better understand this complex condition and its potential outcomes for patients. From this perspective, the website is designed for readers of all levels, from community members to clinicians and physicians. Based upon the information provided on the front page, the website demonstrates the importance of different perspectives regarding diabetes that are relevant to the general population, as well as advanced clinical and scientific minds (American Diabetes Association, 2013). The website encourages viewers to explore its many topics by clicking on the headers and viewing other subheadings with additional topics for consideration (American Diabetes Association, 2013). These efforts are important because they have an impact on readers who are looking for specific information regarding diabetes and its impact on patients and on communities (American Diabetes Association, 2013).The website is relatively easy to navigate and enables the reader to explore different topics with relative ease (American Diabetes Association, 2013). The website also lists that it is a partner with VeriSign and Trustwave to ensure that all possible security-based measures are taken to protect personal information when navigating the site (American Diabetes Association, 2013).

Since the website is sponsored by a nationally recognized diabetes organization, it is undoubtedly legitimate and provides significant support for users seeking information regarding diabetes for a variety of reasons. The information provided on the website is credible and is supported by evidence within its own journal, Diabetes Care, whereby statistics demonstrate the significance of diabetes and its impact on the patient population (Cowie et.al, 2010). It is evident that information regarding diabetes testing and research emphasize the importance of specific factors to determine risk and probable diagnoses (Cowie et.al, 2010). This information is also expressed in different forms on the website and provides a greater understanding of the issues that are most prevalent to patients and researchers with respect to risk and A1C levels as determined by testing (Cowie et.al, 2010).

The provision of medical care is essential for diabetes patients and is supported by the basic principles set forth by the American Diabetes Association in Diabetes Care. This information reflects the ability of researchers and clinical professionals to recognize the importance of outcomes research and clinical predictors in order to provide patients with the best possible environment to promote wellbeing in spite of diabetes (American Diabetes Association, 2013). Some of this information that is found in the journal is also represented in the issues summarized on the website in regards to basic knowledge and a greater understanding of diabetes (American Diabetes Association, 2013). These matters are relevant to website readers because they have a significant impact on diagnoses, patient care, and treatment plans for this population group, all of which is conveyed on the website in great detail (American Diabetes Association, 2013).

Conclusion

The information provided on the American Diabetes Association website is essential to the discovery of new ideas and concepts related to diabetes that are both factual and easy to understand. Professional nurses must evaluate this information and determine if it will be effective in providing knowledge to patients and others at risk of diabetes by using this data to improve education and outreach within communities. The website would be useful to a nurse in the development of an educational program that provides facts and figures regarding diabetes, as well as other indicators that support improved knowledge regarding this disease and its impact on the general population. Furthermore, nurses might use this website as a resource to obtain access to Diabetes Care, the ADA’s research journal. Finally, nurses might obtain nutritional information and guidance from this website to impart to their patients in a variety of healthcare settings. These efforts will support an understanding of the challenges and considerations of effective diabetes diagnostic tools, testing, and treatment in order to accomplish the desired objectives in reducing the prevalence and long-term complications of diabetes for many patients. Nurses must get the word out regarding this website because it provides much-needed information that supports education and outreach regarding diabetes and the expansion of treatment alternatives for this group of patients across all age groups, as well as the prediction of risk factors that contribute to this condition.

References

American Diabetes Association (2013). www.diabetes.org

American Diabetes Association (2013). Standards of medical care in diabetes – 2013. Diabetes Care, retrieved from http://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/36/Supplement_1/S11.full.p

Cowie, C.C., Rust, K.F., Byrd-Holt, D.D., Gregg, E.W., Ford, E.S., Geiss, L.S., Bainbridge, K.E., and Fradkin, J.E. (2010). Prevalence of diabetes and high risk for diabetes using A1C criteria in the U.S. population in 1998-2006. Diabetes Care, 33(3), 562-568.