Developing a Plan to Handle Diabetes in High School Research Paper

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Diabetes and Self-Care Ability of High School Diabetics

Diabetes has been one of the biggest challenges that the health sector has been facing in the recent decades. There have been a soaring number of fast foods across the nation and with them the subsequent rise in the number of diabetic population and in specific the high school students who hardly have aby time to cook or access healthy foods. The change in the feeding habits is significantly informed and shaped by the change in trends and lifestyle where eating in fast foods is seen as both a fashionable trend and convenient despite the outright health challenges that come with it like the predisposition to diabetes due to wrong diet. Ferguson, T., Tulloch-Reis, M., Wilks, R. (2010) note that the last 50 years have seen the highest number of Western fast foods mushroom across the world and with it the significant rise in the number of diabetes cases, especially among the women. In light of these facts aforementioned, there is need to have a well structured and easy to understand approach towards empowering the high school students to take care of themselves in the event that they happen to develop diabetes.

There are various theoretical approaches that can be used in the care for diabetes patients and in the equipping of the patient to be able to take care of self with the aim of being able to function optimally in school and within the society like any other students. The proposed approach that is best and suitable for high school students is the Self-care theory which was formulated by Dorothea Orem who was determined to see improvement in quality of nursing in general hospitals. It is upon the basis of this theory and the assumptions therein that the assessment of the knowledge that students have and the application of the knowledge of diabetes management will be based.

There are basis assumptions or tenets that guide and shape the self-care theory; one significant one is that people should be self-reliant and responsible for their own care as well as those of the family members who may be in need of the health care. The theory also recognizes that people are different and unique for that matter. Self-care theory also indicates that nursing is an action that involves interaction between two or more persons to help improve the health of the patient. It also states that the knowledge of potential health problems is essential for the promotion of self-care behaviors or measures by the individual. The last but significant tenet is that the self-care and dependent care are both behaviors learned within a social cultural context (Alice P., 2015). These are the tenets that are essential and guiding in this proposed knowledge evaluation plan.

Method

Diabetes intervention Plan

Orem's theory suitably divides the self-care deficit theory into three major components; the theory of self-care, theory of self-care deficit and theory of nursing system. The first two are the most applicable in this case scenario where the promotion of diabetes care within the college setting is the prime focus. This plan hence focuses on the various approaches that can be used to manage diabetes, the requisite knowledge and then the post implementation evaluation.

The first tenet of self-care theory indicates that one needs to get equipped with universal self-care requisites like life processes and maintenance of individual integrity and of the body, these include intake of water, air and food. It emphasizes on provision of care that is associated with elimination process, the balance of the physical activities, the social life and the emotional balance, avoidance of hazards to life and promotion of normal functioning. The plan will therefore help the individual students know the predisposing factors to diabetes and the steps that need to be taken to help avoid diabetes. Then it will draft a schedule of activities and the things to check out in instances the student already has diabetes. The plan will further give an array of activities that the students need to engage in to avoid being at risk of diabetes, the type of diet suitable and the social activities that are helpful in maintaining a healthy body.

The second tenet under the self-care theory is the developmental self-care requisites which is mainly based on the development of the students, including adjusting feeding habits to the body changes that they experience in high school in order to lead a healthy life. The intervention plan will involve making the students, especially the females, aware of the body changes during adolescent and also sensitizing them on what these changes may imply in terms of their predisposition to diabetes.

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The third tenet is the health deviation self-care which entails seeking medical attention when one falls ill, being aware of the pathologic effects of conditions, carrying out the medical prescriptions, adjusting oneself in line with the prevailing state of health and learning to live with the pathologic conditions. Here, the plan will stipulate the significant measures that a diabetic needs to take in order to get medical attention, the correct medical attention and the best ay possible to manage the condition in a manner that will not interfere with the academic pursuits of the individual. It entails more of the psychological measures that a student needs to take into account once they have been diagnosed with diabetes since it can be emotionally draining at such a young age to know that one has diabetes.

The second component of self-care is the self-care deficit, which predominantly concentrates on the individual helping others, guiding others, supporting others, creating an environment that promotes personal development and teaching others. This intervention plan will in this respect chart out plans that will help form support network within the school that shall be responsible for ensuring healthy living of each individual who has diabetes, and spreading of the awareness among all students about diabetes and what needs to be done. The plan will help create awareness about diabetes and also create sensitization on how the school as a community can help make the lives of those with diabetes easier and how each community member can offer a helping hand when there is need for such response.

Evaluation plan

Once the above intervention measure has been put in place, the evaluation of its effectiveness and the acceptability will have to be measured. An evaluation plan that will involve both the diabetic students who have undergone the sensitization and equipping as per the plan above as well as the non-diabetic students will be involved. There will be two major methods that will be used to evaluate the effectiveness of this intervention; the use of face-to-face interviews as well as the use of questionnaires. A representative sample of 30 students from each grade will be used in evaluation process. From the class selected, 15 students will be randomly picked among those with diabetes, and another 15 randomly from those without diabetes. This will be replicated in at least three other classes in order to acquire a representative number. The research assistants will first interview the participants after which they will be given questionnaires to carry home and fill in accordingly. This double take will help in finding the consistency in the information given since most of the questions will be a repeat of the interview but slightly altered.

The researcher will then enter the data in excel worksheet and analyze the awareness data trough use of varied methods like pie chart and the bar graphs. The figures and numbers will then be explained in an easier to understand approach such that the results can help in improving the diabetes care and awareness within the school and other schools in the region.

Variables

The variables that will be used will basically get into two categories, the independent variables and the dependent variable. The independent variable in this intervention evaluation will be the knowledge and awareness of the facts surrounding diabetes. This is independent variable since it will remain to have been done and cannot be changed later on, just the reception and application of the knowledge that the intervention process shall have passed down can be changed. The dependent variable will be the perception of the people, both the diabetic and non-diabetic as will be gathered by the questionnaires and interviews. The perception is bound to be dependent since it will vary from one individual to another. The perception will be displayed by the level of awareness, the willingness to adapt the knowledge on diabetes, the frequency of sharing the knowledge, the willingness to help someone suffering from diabetes among other factors.

Dissemination of results

Once the evaluation is done, the results and findings will need to be conveyed to the relevant school departments as well as parents of the teenagers who will be directly responsible for helping in implementation of the intervention plan. For the departmental heads and administration at school, there will be PowerPoint presentations prepared as well as printed results….....

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