[Solved] Critical Health Issue in a Community or State

Community Health

Millions of people around the world live with diabetes. For example, statistics by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) indicate that approximately 9 % of the US population have diabetes (30 million people) (CDC, 2017). In addition, prediabetes fast facts show that an estimated 84 million adults aged above 18 years old have prediabetes, which accounts for 34% of the adult US population (CDC, 2017). Incidence and prevalence of diabetes are high due to poor management, which risks the health of the entire American community. Improper handling of the disease leads to severe complications that include the emergence of secondary illnesses such as stroke and heart disease (Cinti et al., 2016).

Diabetes in New York City

Diabetes and diabetes-related cardiovascular diseases are the leading causes of death in New York City. In 2017, The New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) revealed that approximately 10.5% or 1.7 million New Yorkers have diabetes. Approximately half a million of the population are not aware of their health condition. The incidence percentage increased to 10.5% in 2016, from 6.3% in 2000 (NYSDOH, 2018).  In addition, more than half of the rest of the New York population have a high probability of contracting the chronic illness because of the disease-causing factors they get exposed to in the environment.  The condition requires timely intervention because of its alarming growth rate. Approximately 50 thousand New Yorkers are diagnosed with the disease each year, which makes it an epidemic.  Racial and ethnic minorities are disproportionately affected.  Latinos and African American communities are the most affected by the health condition compared to whites. Healthcare research findings of 2018 indicated that 45% of the diabetes patients were African-Americans, and 40% were Latinos (NYSDOH, 2018).

Factors That Contribute to Diabetes In New York

Common factors that lead to high diabetes cases in NYC are illiteracy, inadequate access to healthcare services, obesity, physical inactivity, and lousy attitude towards available interventions. Illiteracy affects a person’s ability to make the right decisions about healthy living styles hence increased cases of the disease because of issues such as poor eating habits. Poor access to health care also leads to the severity of the condition to unmanageable levels that can even result in death.  Individuals are, therefore, not able to access proper medical interventions or learn about their health status before it goes out of hand. The high incidence is also caused by high treatment costs and inadequate healthcare services in the region (Choe, Eliot, Savitz & Wellenius, 2019).  Attitude towards the implemented interventions also plays a significant role in the number of diabetes cases in the area. For instance, most of the population still consume junk food with lots of sugar despite the plea from the healthcare department to avoid sugary food.

Current Interventions to Address Diabetes In New York

A diabetes prevention program was formed by the New York State government to help prevent and solve diabetes problems. The plan was established in the year 2008 because of the realized fast-growing diabetes cases. The government partnered with private firms in the program to increase the number of resources, both human and financial, that will enhance their abilities to reach the whole New York population. The program’s primary purpose is to provide education about positive lifestyles that will help reduce cases of diabetes. It also helps the local healthcare facilities in treatment by giving medications to reduce healthcare expenditure (Cinti et al., 2016). Since the implementation, the program has played a significant role in the control of diabetes in the state of New York. Members of the program from different geographical areas can coordinate properly through the applied advance information systems that enable effective communication.

Nursing Role in The Interventions to Reduce Diabetes Cases

Nurses are significant determinants of success in an implemented healthcare intervention. Therefore, they play a fundamental role in the management and prevention of diabetes. Since they are the primary healthcare providers, they encourage the patient population and direct them towards positive living styles that will help maintain the right blood pressure, cholesterol, and glucose levels. Nurses identify and treat hypoglycaemia. Nurses also provide general guidance to promote self-management and self-care. As educators, the community and public health nurses liaise with other care providers to come up with both short and long-term programs to sensitize the population on the needs to engage in physical activities and to adhere to the health standards in order to alleviate the risk factors and maintain quality of life (Hicks, 2015). Diabetes Specialist Nurses (DSNs) participate in education programs that focus on reducing unnecessary and preventable chronic diseases by giving prevention advice using health coaching and behaviour change techniques (Hicks, 2015). The nurses also monitor patients’ progress through applied interventions to ensure successful patient outcomes.

Evidence-Based Techniques to Expand the Scope of the Intervention and Enable Positive Healthcare Outcomes

According to healthcare research, diabetes prevalence is high among individuals with older family members who have the condition. The disease is genetic and therefore, can be inherited in addition to unhealthy living.  It is essential that people check their lineage for any cases of the disease and visit healthcare facilities for frequent check-ups to identify any traces of the conditions and apply timely interventions (Choe et al., 2019).  The applied diabetes prevention program should also target the entire New York population. It should not be restricted to the affected individuals to avoid the emergence of new diabetes cases. Information about healthy living should be included in schools’ syllabus to equip the population with enough information, not only for diabetes control but also to help avoid other chronic healthcare conditions.  Schools and workplaces should also be redesigned to encourage physical activities among the population to enable the effective functioning of the body.

References

Choe, S. A., Eliot, M. N., Savitz, D. A., & Wellenius, G. A. (2019). Ambient air pollution during pregnancy and risk of gestational diabetes in New York City. Environmental research, 175, 414-420.

Cinti, F., Bouchi, R., Kim-Muller, J. Y., Ohmura, Y., Sandoval, P. R., Masini, M., … & Accili, D. (2016). Evidence of β-cell dedifferentiation in human type 2 diabetes. The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, 101(3), 1044-1054.

Hicks, D. (2015). The role of nursing in diabetes care: A UK perspective. Diabetes Management, 5(3), 151. DOI: 10.2217/dmt.15.8

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), (2017). National diabetes statistics report, 2017. Estimates of diabetes and its burden in the United States. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/pdfs/data/statistics/national-diabetes-statistics-report.pdf

The New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH), (2018). Diabetes and diabetes prevention. Retrieved from https://www.health.ny.gov/diseases/conditions/diabetes/