Chronic Illness Management: Educating Patients for Better Health

Running head: CHRONIC ILLNESS MANAGEMENT
CHRONIC ILLNESS MANAGEMENT
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author note:

CHRONIC ILLNESS MANAGEMENT1
Introduction
This study will focus on the patient named Mr Boulia, a 47 year old aboriginal man,
who was suffering from the major health issue of type 2 diabetes and hypertension. The
patient had a poor lifestyle that was majorly contributing to his bad health condition such as
consumption of high saturated food and sugar, which would be directly responsible for
increasing his blood sugar level (Hamamura et al., 2017). This study will focus on educating
the patient regarding his smoking habits and his bad lifestyle that could further deteriorate his
health. In the education intervention, the application of motivational interview and health
coaching will be used or implemented to educate the patient regarding managing his health
issues and how this educational program can assist him in improving his health condition
(Soderlund, 2018). Gibb’s reflective cycle is used for writing a detail reflection regarding the
culture, attitude and value of interaction between the nurse and the patient.
Overview of the patient
This study will focus on the patient named Mr Boulia, a 47 year old aboriginal man,
who was presented to the Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (ACCHO)
with the issue of central radiating chest pain. The patient was experiencing sharp chest pain
that is also termed as Pleurisy and is defined as the condition of irritation or inflammation
within the chest and lung lining (Low et al., 2016). The patient was majorly suffering from
the health issue of type 2 diabetes, and it could be highly possible that his chest pain was due
to high level of blood sugar. The life style of Mr Boulia can also be responsible for his bad
health condition as he used to smoke and consume food that were rich in sugar and saturated
fats. Type 2 diabetes is considered as the heterogeneous illness that is majorly characterized
by the condition of insulin resistance. The poor lifestyle of the patient had resulted in the
decreased sensitivity of insulin, thus the beta cells are triggered to secret insulin in the patient

CHRONIC ILLNESS MANAGEMENT2
body, leading to the condition of hyperinsulinemia (Lycett et al., 2015). Sometimes this
condition leads to the impaired glucose tolerance and hence result in the development of type
2 diabetes mellitus. Hence, Mr Boulia, was suffering from type 2 diabetes due to his poor
lifestyle and eating habits.
Description of potential health concern of the patient
The primary health concern that was identified from the scenario was type 2 diabetes
mellitus. The patient was also experiencing chest pain that could be responsible for his high
diabetic condition. From the vital sign assessment, it was evident that the blood pressure of
the patient was high (150/90 mmHg) and the blood glucose level (BGL) was also high (15.5
mmol/L) (Oh et al., 2016). The patient was experiencing moderate pain as reported from the
self-reporting numeric scale of pain measurement that measures the level of pain. The
condition of type 2 diabetes mellitus was one of the major health concern that was affecting
the patient and his overall health. The bad lifestyle of Mr Boulia, was adding to his
deteriorating health issue, as he used to smoke, consume high saturated foods and high sugar
intake (Rewers & Ludvigsson, 2016). Mr Boulia used to consume high saturated food that
has a minor yet immediate affect on the blood glucose level, as consumption of such food
will reduce the process of digestion and the efficiency of insulin will decrease that will
eventually result to high rate of blood glucose level. There rate various risk factors that might
enhance the threat of type 2 diabetes in the patient namely age, high blood pressure, poor
lifestyle and smoking. Hence, it is established that the patient was suffering from one of the
major potential health concern associated with type 2 diabetes mellitus (Rawshani et al.,
2018).

CHRONIC ILLNESS MANAGEMENT3
Topic of patient education:
Client education is the part of the healthcare teaching, which enhances the
understanding the knowledge of the patient regarding the risk factor, prevention, diagnosis
and treatment of the disease (Chemutai & Jepkemei Kirui, 2017). Client education or the
health education enhances the knowledge and learning of the patient and their family and
encourage them improve their lifestyle and behavior (Jotterand, Amodio & Elger, 2016). For
the effective client education, nurses play an essential role. Nurse implements health
education in the patient by proper assessment of the patient’s condition.
Coronary heart disease is a heart illness, which is caused due to the narrowing of
the artery in the patient. According to Zipes et al., (2018), the risk factors which are
responsible for the occurrence of coronary heart disease in case of Mr. Boulia is smoking,
type 2 diabetes, hypertension and high cholesterol diet. If the patient does not change his
healthy living habits, it will lead to further deterioration of the health of the patient. Hence, in
order to avoid the further health deterioration, the nurse should educate the patient about the
consequences of continuing smoking and high cholesterol diet.
Education topic 1:
Smoking: Smoking can give rise to multiple diseases if continued for the long time. In the
case of Mr. Boulia, it can be considered as the risk factor coronary heart disease which is
considered as the primary concern of the patient. If the patient will not quit smoking, it might
give rise to other health complications (Barth et al., 2015). Hence by considering the
consequences of smoking into the patient, it is chosen as the topic for the client education.
In order to reduce the effect of smoking into the patient, awareness regarding the
different smoking cessation strategies is created among the patient. Smoking cessation is the
process of quitting tobacco. The patient should be educated about the nicotine replacement