Health Promotion Project – Health Assignment Help

Assignment Task

 

Abstract
Type 2 diabetes is one of the diseases, which became common across indigenous Australian communities as well as across the whole country. The following health promotion project is aimed at specifically indigenous Australians. The prevention of this disease would not only benefit individuals and indigenous communities, but would allow to reduce numbers in the whole country. The prevention program is aimed at the following goals:
To reduce the cholesterol levels in aboriginal communities.
Reduce alcohol consumption and tobacco smoking.
To manage levels of chronic stress
To conquer obesity and control physical well-being.
 

Objectives
To provide aboriginal communities with knowledge on the way diet affects cholesterol levels;
To introduce healthier lifestyles and way to break bad habits such as smoking and alcohol consumption;
To introduce ways of coping with stress such as physical activities and sport;
To ensure that issues of obesity are conquered in the aboriginal communities.
Such goals and objectives, would allow aborigines to handle type 2 diabetes by educating and empowering them to make a change themselves through the help of centralized healthcare organization. This would reduce general mortality related to the type 2 diabetes in Australia.

Health Promotion Project
Health Promotion Project Plan for Type 2 Diabetes Prevention
1.0 Health IssueRegardless of an age, sex, race or social status, every person is at risk of being diagnosed with diabetes mellitus. This disease is spreading globally as the numbers of people diagnosed with diabetes type 2 are growing. Natural ability of a body to utilize insulin in the system is reduced by diabetes. As a result, a diabetic person experiences a spike in blood sugar levels different from the standard rate. There are three types of diabetic disease that are type 1 and 2, as well as gestational diabetes. This paper is aimed at developing a health promotion prevention plan for Type 2 diabetes, which has become common among the aboriginal communities of Australia. According to the governmental reports, nearly one million Australian adults are type 2 diabetes patients (5%). Further statistics from 2017-2018 show that the 4% are women, while 6% are men a proportion that implies men are more likely to be diagnosed with the disease (AIHW, 2019). In addition, when comparing the numbers of diabetic patients in Australia to the global numbers, one can see that diabetes in Australia is an issue of concern. According to the Diabetes Research and Clinical Practice, it projects the 2019 prevalence number to stand at 463 million people (9.3%), while this will rise to 578 million people (10.2%) and 700 million people (10.9%) by 2030 and 2045 respectively. Hence, diabetes is one of the health concerns, which should be addressed and prioritised to avoid both the short and long term consequences on the wellbeing and lives of people globally.
According to Silva, Ferreira and de Pinho (2017), the type 2 diabetes could lead to hypertonia, cardiovascular diseases, diabetic retinopathy, and diabetic nephropathy, which may end in death. Such consequences are crucial to understand, because diabetes does not only has adverse effects on health, it is a deadly disease. Exploring type 2 diabetes is essential because it allows people and societies to change personal practices like smoking, alcohol abuse, and dietary control (Silva et al., 2017). Therefore, educating the population on the possible complications related to diabetes and possible lethal outcomes of it is of a crucial importance.

1.1 Prevalence data
Source: AIHW (2019)
The number of type 2 diabetes patients increases as people age, and the cases are more among men than it is in women (AIHW, 2019). This shows that more effort must be taken to educate communities about the prevalence of diabetes among Australians. Hence, this puts the risk of ages between 20 to 70 plus at a disadvantage of becoming diabetic unless a solution is provided immediately.

1.2 Cost outline
Source: AIHW (2005)
Data from diabetes studies show that 1.7% of the health expenditure was due to the disease. The cost of hospital services was high, with the cost of admitted patients being $ 230.9 million. The combined cost of non-admitted patients was $58 million making the total hospital services to be $289 million (AIHW, 2005).

1.3 Out-of-hospital medical servicesThe expenditure was over $183 million for diabetes-related cases, while the expenditure varied among ages, with the cost increasing among people over 55 years at $127 million (AIHW, 2005).

1.4 Comparison with other countries
Source: Ma & Chan (2013)
The prevalence of diabetes in Australia stood at 8.10% in 2011, which is only higher than the United Kingdom (6.84%), Republic of Korea (8.8%), Mongolia (6.74%), and Macau (7.49%). Those that ranked higher than Australia include Canada (10.80%), USA (10.94%), DPR Korea (9.08%), Taiwan (9.59%), Hong Kong (9.38%), and China (9.29%). The prevalence rates show that countries with more patient numbers incur higher costs than those with fewer numbers.

2.0 Target GroupThe risk of diabetes in aboriginals in Australia is higher compared to other groups. A study on the group found that diabetes accounts for the 17-year life expectancy gap between the non-aboriginal Australians and aboriginal Australians (Wang, Hoy & Si, 2010). It is a challenge for the aboriginals since they face inadequate health care services, which increases the prevalence rates of the disease among the communities. The incidence of diabetes increased among aboriginals, with more cases being found among people above the age of 25, which was 39.9%. The cumulative rates for aboriginal men were 49%, while for women, it was 70%, indicating that this group is at high risk of developing other diabetes-related illnesses. The reason aboriginals are a high-risk group is that their lifestyle exposes them to high obesity rates, high levels of triglycerides, high blood pressure, and high insulin levels (Titmuss, Davis, Brown & Maple-Brown, 2019). Due to the different lifestyle skills among aboriginals, it makes them suspectable to becoming diabetic, given that they also face financial difficulties when handling the health issue. As a result, developing the health promotion plan based on the prevalence of the disease among aboriginal Australians can reduce the number of cases in the country.
Studies have sufficiently documented the staggering health inequality that exists between indigenous and non-indigenous Australians (Mbuzi, Fulbrook, & Jessup, 2018). Notwithstanding the mounting evidence reviewing the size and nature of this inequality, considerably less attention has been accorded to the evaluation of practices that may actively address this injustice (Mbuzi et al., 2018). As a field of nursing practice, health promotion provides numerous approaches that can be used to improve the health of a given people (Mbuzi et al., 2018). In fact, it has characterized many of the attempts that have been made to deal with health issues that impact indigenous people in Australia, for example, nutrition and substance abuse issues (Roden, Jarvis, Campbell-Crofts, & Whitehead, 2015). The primary focus of these health promotion initiatives has centred on the development of resources and approaches, which connect to the cultural and social characteristics of indigenous people (Roden et al., 2015). Such an approach, as this paper will suggest, entails much more than ensuring the cultural appropriateness of mainstream health promotion initiatives.

2.1 Behavioural TheoryPrior to colonisation, the indigenous peoples of Australia had, for thousands of years, depended on a lifestyle of hunting and gathering to maintain good health (Haynes et al., 2019). The diet of these people comprised unprocessed plant foods and undomesticated animals. Studies indicate their nutrient profile during this period is consistent with modern dietary recommendations (Haynes et al., 2019). It is this diet coupled with high levels of social wellbeing and physical activity that immunized Aboriginal people against the seseases such as diabetes that is common in their community today (Stanford et al., 2019). Colonisation changed the entire lifestyle of these people, primarily through massacres, the destruction of traditional food habits, and the spread of infectious diseases. Many indigenous people were forcibly evicted from their ancestral lands, and compelled to reside on reservations where they were exposed to poor diets of flour, fatty meat, and sugar (Nasca, Changfoot, & Hill, 2019). Indeed, colonisation and the subsequent imposition of Western dietary patterns underlie the current predicament of cases of diabetes in many Aboriginal communities across the country (Nasca et al., 2019).
Diabetes is a problematic medical condition for societies if there are no measures in place to tackle it. Its impact is associated with the lifestyles among communities, and this is different for aboriginal Australians since they remain vulnerable. If any of the concerns are to be addressed, applying a behavioural theory can offer insight into approaches to prevent diabetes among the affected communities (Hood, Hilliard, Piatt & Ievers-Landis, 2015). In behavioural psychology, the self-efficacy theory is identified as a critical part of the struggle to increase the physical activity of patients. The theory accents to the belief that a person can successfully overcome adversities when their will or ability is supported through behaviour change (Olander, Fletcher, Williams, Atkinson, Turner & French, 2013). When people undertake self-efficacy intervention strategies, they improve physically because walking and other exercises reduce reliance on toxins.
Since the self-efficacy theory focuses on physical activity, it becomes essential to identify methods to help diabetic patients to improve techniques about training. The theory is appropriate because it helps to integrate self-belief among aboriginals since physical activities must start with them to improve their lifestyles (Olander et al., 2013). By targeting physical activities, it allows adults and teenagers to engage in healthy practices capable of improving their body performance as well as wellbeing. It is crucial for diabetes patients to have heightened social cognitive abilities to deliver them from poor lifestyle choices that could hamper their recovery (Olander et al., 2013). This makes it eligible to engage aboriginals in activities to improve their physical wellbeing. Hence, identifying a criterion to follow is pertinent to the success of self-efficiency in terms of dealing with poor decision-making.

2.2 Justification for the theoryThe application of the self-efficacy theory in the health promotion plan is because it focuses on improving awareness among people living with diabetes. According to Edelman (2017), chronic diabetes patients need to have knowledge about the condition and get information about how to address the problem. It is also the responsibility of the healthcare system to assist and advocate for collaborative approaches to ensure that people living with diabetes get to enjoy productive lives. These individuals need to know what must be done to live long, productive, and enjoy healthy lifestyles to deal with diabetes (Edelman, 2017). In support of the theory, emotional attributes associated with it encourage people living with diabetes to make decisions that eliminate different lifestyle aspects. For instance, knowing the effects of smoking and alcohol can inspire someone to seek rehab to overcome the vice. Therefore, it would be interesting if people are presented with concerns that arise due to poor health decisions by showing them the role they can play.
The relationship between patient change and self-efficacy is that it enhances a person’s wellbeing. Domenech-Betoret, Abellan-Rosello and Gomez-Artiga (2017) state that through self-efficacy, people can be influenced to understand the amount of anxiety and stress they experience by engaging in different activities and when they should engage in life-changing activities. Even though evidence shows that positive outcomes are expected in self-efficacy, there needs to exist plans to motivate and inspire people to adopt healthy lifestyles. That is why Domenech-Betoret et al., (2017) suggest the use of motivational mechanisms to mediate between the people and self-efficacy because satisfying the expectations of the individuals requires relationship building based on attainable goals. In this case, decision-making should consider the performance parameters people living with diabetes can engage in through physical exercise and other solutions. As a result, it is fundamental to judgment diabetes patients after a health plan has commenced and been given time to understand its possible outcomes.