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Nurses Identify Barriers to Diabetes Self-Care and Strategies to Overcome Them
Nearly four billion dollars: That's how much it cost for a single year (2001) of diabetes-related inpatient care. Two-thirds of that was for preventable conditions. Why that prevention isn't happening was the topic of a recent symposium on the "State of the Science on Nursing Best Practices for Diabetes Self-Management," sponsored in Philadelphia by the American Journal of Nursing (AJN).
The fifty symposium participants, from various healthcare disciplines as well as nursing, set out to identify the barriers that stand in the way of good self-management of diabetes. Then they formulated strategies to overcome those barriers.
Six barriers to good self-care were identified: difficulty navigating the healthcare system; the lack of self-care education following diagnosis; limited time with healthcare providers; undervaluation of the importance of patient education; the complexity of diabetes education; and inadequate patient health literacy.
For each barrier, the symposium proposed solutions, starting with providing a "patient navigator" to help families work their way through the healthcare system. To address the lack of self-care education, a referral for self-management education should be standard, aided by a process for tracking such education. To address limited time with providers, time in the waiting room could be used for education, and the patients' needs should be addressed in order of priority.
There needs to be a public campaign to emphasize the importance of patient education, a grassroots movement to support reimbursement for education, and research to underscore the cost-effectiveness of patient education. Diabetes education must be simplified by identifying the components of such education and developing better approaches to teaching self-management skills. Finally, caregivers need to assume that patients have a low level of health literacy and to use media other than print, such as DVDs, in the educational process.
Source: American Journal of Nursing
Categories: Diabetes, Diabetes, Professional Issues
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Jul 15, 2007
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Diabetes Health
Diabetes Health is the essential resource for people living with diabetes- both newly diagnosed and experienced as well as the professionals who care for them. We provide balanced expert news and information on living healthfully with diabetes. Each issue includes cutting-edge editorial coverage of new products, research, treatment options, and meaningful lifestyle issues.
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