The Importance Of A Community Health Worker

The incidences of diabetes are growing annually, and predicted to increase within the coming decades. The number of cases yearly is not only increasing, but the age of onset for diabetes has decreased. This means more individuals are developing diabetes at an earlier age. Diabetes not only affects individuals and communities but countries as well. The prevalence of diabetes has gathered billions of dollars in healthcare costs. [1]Type 2 diabetes also leads to other serious medical conditions such as heart disease, renal failure, blindness, and tissue damage in extremities that will eventually lead to amputation. These illnesses, as a result, result in further costs in the form of disability and the loss of a portion of our workforce. However, incidences of type 2 diabetes are in higher occurrence amongst Hispanic groups. According to the Hispanic Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, Mexican Americans have an unusually high prevalence of diabetes compared to that of the general population [2]. Hispanic females have the highest lifetime risk of becoming diabetic – 52% [3], compared to that of the average risk of

Hispanics households with low socioeconomic status and low education coupled with low diabetes awareness have high type 2 diabetes prevalence 9. The high prevalence rates of type 2 diabetes can be attributed to a number of reasons such as; the Latinos have a genetic tendency to develop insulin resistance and they face high risks for abdominal obesity. The study emphasized that the strongest predictors of developing type 2 diabetes in Hispanic population are impaired insulin sensitivity, low insulin secretion and and glucose effectiveness 1. In addition, the prevalence rates are high in poor families who have poor nutrition and lifestyle behaviors. Since poor families have low access to education, they tend to have low awareness for diabetes hence these results in high diabetes prevalent rates. The results of the study indicated that incidence of diabetes decreased with rising educational level in Hispanic population

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.

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

The rate of diabetes in the United States is one of the highest compared to other developed countries. An estimate of 9.3% of the population have diabetes, of those with diabetes 27.8% have yet to be diagnosed (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2014). This means that approximately 8.1 million people are currently living with diabetes, but are unaware of it. As of 2012, 12.3% of people with diabetes were 20 years old or older, the largest population diagnosed with diabetes were adults 65 years old or older. 25.9% of this population lives with diabetes (CDC, 2014). On a national level, the CDC have launched initiatives that focus on prevention and disease management. The National Diabetes Prevention Program is an example of one such initiative. This program focuses on lifestyle changes,

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.

Based on the United States census, it is estimated that by the year 2050 one in three people living in the United Sates will be of Hispanic/Latino origin which include sub groups like Puerto Rican, Mexican, Cuban, Central Americans, and South Americans (Heart Association, 2014). Within those subgroups, the prevalence varied for people of Mexican descent from as high of 18.3 percent to as low as 10.3 percent for people of South American descent, Dominicans and Puerto Rican descent 18.1 percent, Central American descent and Cubans descent 13.4 percent all living in the United States with diabetes type 2. On another commentary being published in the same issue of Diabetes Care, the author wrote, “the differences in diabetes and obesity prevalence among Latinos subgroups are marked when all individuals are combined into a single group” (Heart Association, 2014). Diabetes in Latino Americans has become more prevalence with aging, by the time they reach the age of 70 years, 44.3 percent of Latino men age 70 years old to 74 years old will have develop diabetes. The same study also indicated that the longer Latino Americans live in the United States the more likely they will develop diabetes, that is according to the education and income level of the person. The study also shows

The health issues resulting from health disparities present on the Latinos and Hispanics in America are diverse. In the Hispanic community, diabetes is one of the major causes of death and illness. The language barrier, hard access to health and preventive care and cultural barriers are factors that contribute to this disparity. (Ritter & Hoffman, 2010).

Diabetes is a prevalent health disparity among the Latino population. Diabetes is listed as the fifth leading cause of death among the Latino population in the website for Center for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC, in 2009. According to McBean, “the 2001 prevalence among Hispanics was significantly higher than among blacks.” (2317) In other words among the Hispanic or Latino community, there is a higher occurrence of diabetes as compared to other racial/ethnic groups such as Blacks and Native Americans. The prevalence of diabetes among Latinos is attributed to the social determinants of health such as low socioeconomic status and level of education. Further, this becomes an important public health issue when it costs the

The intervention that was conducted targeted African Americans and the Latino Community because the intervention reports that African Americans and Latinos experience 50 percent to 100 percent of the illness and mortality. It also reports that both these ethnicities also experience diabetes more than White Americans. The intervention was conducted by Community Health Workers (CHW), the CHWs gathered 164 African Americans and Latinos from 2 health systems which where in Detroit and Michigan. The hemoglobin levels in these communities were high according to the intervention and decided to focus on this aspect of the disease. The main focus of this intervention was to educated the target population on how to reduce their hemoglobin A1c levels. CHWs provided the target population with many skills such as self

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.

Diabetes in Hispanic Americans is a serious health challenge because of the increased prevalence of diabetes in this population, the greater number of risk factors for diabetes in Hispanics (Smith, 2010).” In the years of 2004-2006, about 11.9% of Hispanic American aged twenty (20) years or older are diagnosed with diabetes. About 75% of the Hispanic American trend to be overweight or obesity. When work with Hispanic American clients, you have to gain support from clients’ families to enhance their acceptability of the diet. Healthcare provider encourages pregnant Hispanic to eat low-fat cheeses, lean red meat, and fresh fruits and vegetables. “Gender differentiation and male dominance are issues to consider while working with Hispanic households. The father is the leader of the family while the mother runs the home, shops and prepares the food (Smith,

Hispanics are the largest and fastest growing ethnic minority group and there are estimated to be about 54 million living in the United States (Office of Minority Health & Health Equity, YEAR). The Hispanics are a minority group that struggle every day to survive, to provide for their families, to stay healthy and to live quality lives. This paper will discuss the Hispanics current health status, how health promotion is defined by the Hispanics and what health disparities exist for the Hispanics. Lastly, this paper will discuss the three levels of health prevention and their effectiveness given the unique

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.

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.