The Quality of Diabetes Care in African Americans, Essay Example

Healthy People 2020 provides a number of important objectives that are designed to promote culturally competent care and treatment for patients. One critical objective is the reduction of diabetes cases and the burden of the disease for as many people as possible, and specifically, to promote prevention through the improvement of physical activity and weight loss (HealthyPeople.gov, 2014). African Americans will benefit from these objectives through a targeted nurse-led intervention program to ensure that patients receive the best possible guidance and support in reducing weight and improving physical activity within this population. It is necessary to use the Healthy People objectives as a guide in framing the development of new ideas and approaches to healthcare practice so that residents in inner city communities will benefit from these interventions effectively.

Culturally competent care requires nurses to serve as experts in supporting a strategy that will educate African Americans regarding their responsibility to improve their health and lower their diabetes risk through weight loss and increased exercise. Nurses may consider a food-specific intervention that will enable nurses to discuss dietary changes with African Americans to ensure that they are better able to control their weight and reduce their diabetes risk (Sumlin & Garcia, 2012). This is relevant because it will support weight management and possible weight loss in patients and provide them with the tools to overcome significant food-related challenges that they face throughout their lives (Sumlin & Garcia, 2012). This intervention will be effective if it demonstrates beneficial outcomes through measurable weight loss in future visits with nurses who have conducted the intervention.

Nurses must provide education to African Americans who lack literacy skills or who do not fully understand the scope of diabetes and its impact on their health, and this may be accomplished through an intervention that promotes education in an interesting and engaging manner for this population, using food and exercise as a guide in this process (Ricci-Cabello et.al, 2013). This intervention is necessary because it supports a greater recognition of diabetes in a simplistic manner that participants will understand, and this practice also signifies an opportunity to explore new ideas in education that promote interactivity so that participants understand and embrace these risks effectively and in a timely manner. This intervention will be successful if participants report healthier eating habits and/or improved exercise levels in future visits, including possible weight loss.

Finally, an obesity intervention is critical to the understanding of diabetes risk and its overall impact on patient care outcomes, as nurses must educate African Americans regarding their own obesity risk and how it impacts quality of life (Kong et.al, 2014). This practice is necessary because many African Americans engage in poor dietary habits and limited exercise that contribute to excess weight gain and poor health, including a high risk of diabetes in the present and future (Kong et.al, 2014). Therefore, these factors must be considered as part of a larger framework for examining the risk of diabetes that is related to obesity and how this limits health outcomes in many ways (Kong et.al, 2014). As a result, this type of intervention, targeting both males and females, must be conducted to ensure that patients recognize their risk related to their own weight. This intervention will be successful if there is observed weight loss in this population group over time, and if they begin to demonstrate minor yet significant changes in their dietary and exercise habits.

References

HealthyPeople.gov (2014). Diabetes. Retrieved from http://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/topics-objectives/topic/diabetes/objectives

Kong, A., Tussing?Humphreys, L. M., Odoms?Young, A. M., Stolley, M. R., & Fitzgibbon, M. (2014). Systematic review of behavioural interventions with culturally adapted strategies to improve diet and weight outcomes in African American women. Obesity Reviews, 15(S4), 62-92.

Ricci-Cabello, I., Ruiz-Pérez, I., Nevot-Cordero, A., Rodríguez-Barranco, M., Sordo, L., & Gonçalves, D. C. (2013). Health Care Interventions to Improve the Quality of Diabetes Care in African Americans A systematic review and meta-analysis. Diabetes care, 36(3), 760-768.

Sumlin, L. L., & Garcia, A. A. (2012). Effects of food-related interventions for African American women with Type 2 diabetes. The Diabetes Educator, 38(2), 236-249.