Cultural Health Brokers Within The Community

Diabetes has recently become a focal point of health care systems around the world due to its high prevalence and the severity of secondary complications caused by the disease. Over the course of my project on diabetes, I have had the opportunity to speak with a group of diabetics to understand from a patient’s perspective how diabetes is managed in a rural community. While I found that while some patients ignored treatment and refused to make any dietary changes, the majority of the patients I interviewed were well-informed and actively managing diabetes in their everyday life.

The goal is to increase the percentage of understanding of diabetes and how to live empowered with diabetes. I will conduct outreach programs in various methods to reach the people to participate in the health program. My objective is done by specific, measurable, achievable, results-focused, and time-bound (SMART) goals. By May 31, 2018, an increase of 40% establishes one-on-one follow up education session with each individual and families through home visits or phone calls to monitor them to improve their lifestyles. By February 30, 2018, an increase of 80% distribution of brochures and with door to door interactions with the individuals in the community. By September 2018, increase 90% of people to engage in community health fair, classes, and exercise activities on diabetes and cardiovascular classes. This will introduce the individuals in social support that allow interactions with teaching and

It is important for policy makers to create services that are culturally sensitive since the United States is a culturally diverse country; moreover, Healthcare professionals needs to be culturally competent so that they can guide policy makers in making sustainable systems for individual communities. “Efforts to improve cultural competence among health care professionals and organizations would contribute to improving the quality of health care for all consumers” (GeorgeTown Health Policy Institutes, 2004, para 31). Language barrier is another culture issue that prevents the community from getting the care that they deserve. “Cultural and language differences and socioeconomic status interact with and contribute to low health literacy, defined as the inability to understand or act on medical/therapeutic instructions” (Shaw, Huebner, Armin, Orzech, & Vivian, 2009, p.1). There should be health policy addressing this issue because of the confusion and inappropriate treatment that many

Diabetes is a serious medical condition that can also be a risk factor for the development of many different diseases and conditions including dementia, heart disease, and CVA. Thus, effective management of diabetes is very important. Patient compliance can be difficult to achieve if the person affected with diabetes is not educated about the illness or treatment, has not fully accepted the diagnosis or its severity, will not change habits or believes that the prescribed treatment regime is too difficult or ineffective, has cultural beliefs conflicting with the treatment regime, experiences stressful events, lacks social support, or suffers from psychiatric issues unrelated to diabetes (Gerard, Griffin, & Fitzpatrick, 2010). As one may expect, adequate education programs are essential tools when dealing with diabetics. Solid education will provide the patient with information as well as teaching the necessary skills to manage the disorder. The primary focus of any diabetes education program must be to empower patients as a part of the multidisciplinary team. This team should be focused at integrating diabetes into the lives of the patients and this focus should be based on the decisions made by the patient, otherwise the treatment plan can be looked on as forced (Gerald et al., 2010). Every patient stricken with diabetes has the right to benefit from an education program of this type. First, basic education and facts should be administered directly following the diagnosis of

Diabetes  is a serious health condition that is a chronic illness for the African Americans. Diabetes preventions strategies in African American community can be a tricky task to contain and prevent for several reasons I will discuss in this paper.

According to Rural Health Information Hub (2017), the fundamental purpose of disease prevention is to keep individuals healthy. One implements health promotion interventions in an effort to promote healthy behaviors and to decrease the risks of developing chronic illnesses (RHIH, 2017). According to the ADA (2016) individuals that participate in health promotion behaviors are more likely to have better health outcomes compared to those who do not. The EBP change project has shown that educating patients with prediabetes can increase diabetes knowledge and promote an increase in health promotion behaviors. The EBP change project outcome has indicated that participants who completed the 6-week diabetes education program were able to increase their knowledge regarding type 2 diabetes. Therefore, with the positive outcome of the EBP change project, the EBP change project site can incorporate certain aspects of the diabetes education program into their patient education to increase diabetes knowledge, picking healthier food options and participants in activities that would increase physical fitness.

The Hispanic population is constantly growing and we have an estimated 13.7% of Hispanics making up the United States. “The annual percentage of patients with prediabetes in whom overt type 2 diabetes develops is about 5% in the general US population and may reach 15% in the Hispanic American population” (Idrogo & Mazze, 2004, para. 7). This a community health issue because of the percentage of Hispanic individuals that may end up with diabetes. These individuals need to be educated to help the promotion, protection, and maintenance of diabetes in this group. That is why I have created the intervention program for this ethnic group.

It is a known fact that excellent care and control of diabetes could aid in minimizing the risk of people: nonetheless, there are plenty of African Americans who are not really knowledgeable and informed that they are already a diabetic (Calvin, 2011). It is only after they have already experienced some of its complications that they finally realize that they already are a diabetic.

Even when access-associated factors, such as insurance and income are considered, minorities continue to have higher rates of disease with shorter life expectancy. They tend to have a poorer quality of health care than non-minorities, increasing the demand and importance of culturally competent health care in the United States. The ability of the healthcare provider to communicate with his or her patient's aides in discouraging barriers to accessing healthcare.

Type 2 diabetes is a chronic disease where patient education is imperative and requires education that surpasses the primary care office. According to Cha et al. (2012) basic education and family involvement is an essential component for pre-diabetic and diabetic population to achieve glycemic control. Time management and time constraint are obstacles that are affecting the primary care provider in initiating health promotion topics and disease prevention information (Kowinsky, Greenhouse, Zombek, Rader & Reidy, 2009). Recognizing the time constraint at the EBP change project site for health promotion and patient education a culturally sensitive educational program would be created to promote healthy lifestyle behaviors targeting African Americans with prediabetes.

Carter, Barba, and Kautz (2013) report culturally tailored education can lead to significant improvements in self-care in African Americans with type 2 diabetes. Also, appropriate dieting, exercise, medical checkups and medication regimens for prevention and management show efficient improvements. The Health Belief Model is realistic and acknowledges that having a desire to change health behavior may not be enough. Therefore, two elements that may be helpful include cues to action and self-efficacy. The cues to action are external whereas, self-efficacy focuses on his or her ability to make a health-related change (Boskey, 2014).

The review of literature section will define diabetes and prediabetes, identify the prevalence and major risk factors for diabetes, and present behavioral changes that can reduced the risk of developing diabetes. This section discusses the types of presentations and teaching methods that have been utilized in diabetes prevention and the health belief model. The final paragraphs in the review of literature present the learning theory and delivery method of instructional designs, which are ideal for a diabetes prevention program.

Diabetes is associated with wide range of complications such as chronic renal failure, blindness, amputations, heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke, and neuropathy (Alotabi, A., et al., 2016). There is no known cure for diabetes, but the disease can be controlled through health management that includes multiple perspectives of care such as medications, blood glucose monitoring, diet, nutrition, screening for long-term complications and regular physical activity (Alotabi, A., et al., 2016). Managing diabetes may be complicated and requires the knowledge and skills of both healthcare providers and the clients. Studies have shown that to prevent or delay diabetic complications due to diabetes, counseling and other lifestyle interventions are the effective therapy. Even with many policies set up for diabetes, 8.1 million Americans are undiagnosed with diabetes mellitus, and approximately 86 million Americans ages 20 and older have blood glucose levels that considerably increase their risk of developing Diabetes Mellitus in the next several years (CDC, 2015). For diabetes care to be successful there needs to be a good understanding of the disease and management by both patients and healthcare providers,

Diabetes is a major problem in our society today. Many people have heard about the disease; however, they do not know too much about its complications. Diabetes is a chronic, progressive and lifelong condition that affects the body’s ability to use the energy found in food (WebMD, 2016). Many new cases are confirmed every year and unfortunately, many go undiagnosed for years. Diabetes is a serious disease and need to be taking seriously. The disease can lead to many other health problems such as blindness, nerve damage and kidney diseases. The more the community understand and made aware of the seriousness of the disease, the better it can be control and or prevented.

Health care organizations and communities must work together to support diabetes care programs. Addressing health care issues, such as diabetes, is challenging for health care systems to achieve without the support of the community. “The Building Community Supports for Diabetes Care (BCS) program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Diabetes Initiative required that projects build community supports for diabetes care through clinic-community partnerships” (Brownson, O’Toole, Shetty, & Fisher, 2007, p. 210). The BCS project’s demonstrates community leadership