Evaluating the Effectiveness of Diabetes Prevention Programs

The provided content consists of various research articles and studies on the topics of diabetes prevention, management, and treatment. It includes discussions on the effects of age and diabetes on scleral stiffness, as well as the impact of lifestyle interventions on health outcomes. The articles cover a range of subjects, including diabetes prevention programs, mobile-health technology-based health behavior change or disease management interventions, and the role of health coaching in faith-based community diabetes education. Overall, the content provides insights into the latest research and trends in diabetes care and prevention.

Running head: DIABETES EDUCATION
Diabetes Education
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author Note:

1
DIABETES EDUCATION
Assessment Task 2
Introduction
Healthcare in today’s times have underwent unprecedented transformations that in turn
has paved the way for holistic development of the people in need. Health education is
particularly crucial in order to procure the optimal benefits out of adoption of suitable techniques
that might be conducive to the enhancement of health of distressed individuals who are in need
of therapeutic interventions. As part of the health promotion initiative, definite program may be
improvised that will aid in prevention of the disorder under consideration. In the following
assignment, a health promotion program aimed to manage diabetes will be discussed focusing on
the target group of people belonging to the age bracket of 25-40 years. Techniques for diabetes
prevention in addition to critical evaluation regarding the use of internet and communication
technologies as tools of teaching and learning will be discussed. Specific goals and objectives,
program plan, timelines, learning strategies and evaluation plan will be explored to provide an
insight into the topic.
Need the program/session is addressing
In the modern era, the incidence and prevalence of diabetes has shot up owing to the
changing lifestyles and gain of prominence of other possible environmental factors. Therefore,
under such circumstances, the management of this chronic disorder calls for strict attention so
that the condition may be managed effectively instead of focusing on the potential risk factors
that accentuate the risk of confronting diabetes. Research has revealed that diabetes is linked
with the risk of onset of other co-morbidities such as that of obesity, cardiovascular disorder
(American Diabetes Association, 2014). The pervading problem of diabetes has become a

2
DIABETES EDUCATION
household name of modern lifestyle. Therefore, in order to mitigate the condition among the
most vulnerable population who are more susceptible to acquire the condition due to their faulty
lifestyle pattern and paraphernalia, an educational program will be undertaken with the
community members. Prudent suggestions and health related crucial information will be
disseminated among them to aid them cope up with the ensuing challenges. Lifestyle
modifications as indicated in empirical findings are capable of exerting discernible influences for
directing positive outcomes that might be useful to deal with the throbbing condition of diabetes
(Gonder-Frederick, 2014). Sedentary lifestyle as opposed to physically active life pose greater
threat to develop diabetes like condition due to the onset of overweight or obesity like syndrome
in the concerned person causing significant alteration in the metabolic functioning evident
through certain biochemical and anthropometric parameters (Rockette-Wagner et al., 2015). The
proposed program will help to impart most suitable education by means of suggesting
appropriate solutions through interventions in the form of a definite dietary regime, plan of
physical activity alongside other valid and relevant suggestions that might be helpful in
controlling the prevalence of diabetes in the chosen group of people who are at increased risk of
diabetes.
Aims and Objectives
The educational program will focus mainly on generating awareness and enough public
knowledge regarding diabetes in liaison with the causes and available interventional approaches
that may be utilized in order to adequately prevent the condition. Pertinent investigatory work
has revealed that certain myths and the level of awareness among certain population might
hinder the progress of managing the disorder effectively through application of the useful
resources (Kavita & Kumar, 2015). Improvement of the overall quality of health of the chosen

3
DIABETES EDUCATION
population will be attended to in the conceived program through recommendation of strategies
to for ameliorating the disease burden and counter the adverse impacts. Thus, the primary aims
will be to increase the level of awareness and knowledge pertaining to diabetes amongst the
chosen group so that adequate diabetes oriented self-care management strategies may be
directed. Moreover, overall health status improvement by following lifestyle modifications will
also be addressed satisfactorily.
Health coaching has been detected as an efficient tool to impart holistic educational
intervention to a chosen community for the sake of increasing the level of awareness and
outcomes among the chosen group and has been tested for disease control and management of
diabetes (Meyer & Holland, 2016). An impactful change in terms of improving the diabetes care
among the selected group of people within the community by streamlining the community based
interventions will be implemented through conducting heath education sessions with the target
group. The program will be introduced as part of the community based education, where the
target group will be empowered with necessary information about diabetes encompassing the
causes, signs and symptoms, management strategies that may be directed to address the lifestyle
modifications for harboring optimal outcomes. Exercise guidance and nutritional guidance will
be fostered to the target group as part of incorporating the lifestyle intervention elements.
Target group for education
The proposed educational intervention will be directed to persons belonging to the age
group of 25-40 years. The three chief agendas of the educational program will be to ensure
healthy eating, healthy living by engaging into daily physical exercise activities alongside
management of weight within the ideal body weight range. Diabetes, as reported across
literatures has been represented of having a widespread distribution encompassing a wide age

4
DIABETES EDUCATION
group. Although the relative propensity of diabetes is common among the adults and elderly
population, yet juvenile diabetes has also been reported to occur among the adolescents (Pugliese
et al., 2014). However, the preponderance of having diabetes is greater in case of the adults as
increasing age pose considerable threat of developing diabetes. With progressing age, the
physiological functioning of the body is compromised as part of the natural process (Coudrillier
et al., 2015). Therefore, the risks for encountering certain chronic and metabolic syndromes also
are accentuated under such circumstances. Obesity has been noted as a possible risk factor for
developing diabetes like condition that in turn is related to the onset of other co-morbidities that
may affect the functioning of the vital organs and other bodily organs. Therefore, in the proposed
health education program, the individuals belonging to the age group of 25-40 years will be
recruited for carrying out diabetes screening and health awareness program so that chances of
diabetes may be reduced appreciably in the chosen group. Research has attributed stress as an
important contributor for diabetes and other metabolic syndromes (van Valkengoed et al., 2014).
Among the chosen population, it is speculated that due to employment related engagements and
other social factors, stress may be a common occurrence that in turn might culminate in causing
diabetes. Therefore, community education of this group will enable them to manage diabetes
effectively.
Learning needs of target group
The target group will be empowered with the necessary information and guidance
required to make them aware and educated regarding the disease of diabetes mellitus that causes
the blood glucose level to rise beyond the normal range. Hormonal insufficiency due to lack of
insulin is a common feature in case of diabetes and the two types of diabetes, Type1 diabetes and
Type 2 diabetes differ in accordance with the dependency on insulin. In type 1 diabetes, the body

5
DIABETES EDUCATION
does not produce insulin because of the immunological destruction of the pancreatic cells that are
held responsible for the generation of insulin. It is usually diagnosed in case of children as well
as young adults and the affected individuals are in need of insulin therapy to deal with the
situation (Atkinson et al., 2014). Conversely, type2 diabetes, also termed as non-insulin
dependent diabetes is related with the improper utilization of hormone insulin (Taylor, 2013).
Therefore, the target group must be made aware about the differences between the two types of
diabetes with additional knowledge regarding their management strategies so that the arousing
situation may be tackled in a deft manner. The treatments and therapeutic options that are in
vogue to counter the effects of diabetes or prevent its onset through following of simple lifestyle
modifications might act in favor of managing diabetes in the concerned persons. Management
and prevention of diabetes being a multifaceted approach, necessary assistances and
interventions will be informed about to the target group. The significance and need to maintain
body weight within the limits of ideal body weight is imperative to allay the possibilities of
adverse outcomes because of chronic ailments such as that of diabetes related hyperglycemia,
hypertension and obesity. Knowledge about the person-centered care will be emphasized upon to
allow them to better understand the mode of diabetes care independent of other (Inzucchi et al.,
2015). Hence, core and vital knowledge regarding diabetes will be presented to the target group
in a comprehensive manner so that self management care strategies may be adopted by them
either to tackle diabetes or prevent chances of occurrence of diabetes.
Location, time or tenure of the program
The healthcare educational program meant for the diabetes management will be
conducted as a community educational initiative where the target group of people belonging to
the age range of 25-40 years will be incorporated as chosen respondents who are likely to be

6
DIABETES EDUCATION
benefited. Australian suburbs within the city of Melbourne will be selected as the location for
carrying out the program. Workplace settings where employees falling in the age group of 25-40
years are accustomed to doing sedentary desk-based jobs will be the place of choice where
educational program will be carried out. The program will commence from 1st October 2017 and
last until 30th November 2017 consisting of a period of two months. Three days week in post
office hours, thirty minutes educational session will be arranged with the target group of
employees belonging to the age range of 25-40 years who are acquainted with doing desk jobs to
explain them about the health care promotion for diabetes management. In totality, 24 sessions
will be conducted across the two months time span so that awareness and a succinct knowledge
may be imparted to the concerned individuals abut effective diabetes care and management.
Owing to the fact that diabetes has acquired an epidemic status in Australia, it calls for greater
attention and intervention on the part of the healthcare professionals as well as healthcare
educators to undertake proactive measures for dealing with the situation (Williamson, 2014).
Therefore, learning about the diabetes prevention will be streamlined by these proposed
educational initiatives.
Strategies or activities used in program to assist learning
The proposed educational program will aim to enhance the understanding and existing
knowledge base of the target group individuals regarding the threatening disease condition of
diabetes. Honing of skills relevant to self-care of diabetes will be emphasized in course of the
program so that the target group people do not encounter any issues in coping up with the
condition and may be in a position to keep it at bay through incorporation of certain simple
lifestyle modifications. Improvement of overall health status and wellbeing of the target group is
a key agenda of the health promotional educational campaign. In order to fulfill these objectives,

7
DIABETES EDUCATION
expert intervention will be sought from professionals who are competent in their respective
domains and will be able to help those in need (McLellan et al., 2014). Lifestyle interventions
meant to mitigate the diabetes problem include modifications of dietary pattern so that the blood
glucose levels may be kept under check in addition to incorporating physical activities so that the
adverse effects due to higher level of glucose in blood may be controlled to some extent.
Individual attention given on the needs of the target group persons will not be a realistic
possibility considering the short timeframe in which the diabetes education will be conducted. In
an effort to manage diabetes, it is necessary to know about the symptoms that might be indicative
of the underlying presence of diabetes like condition. Increased hunger, thirst and urination
alongside presence of fatigue, blurred vision and delayed wound healing as well as unexplained
weight loss has been recognized as some of the common symptoms of diabetes (Park et al.,
2015). Therefore, the target group people must be made aware about these symptoms so that they
may take actions well in advance that stand for diabetes management to rule out the possibility of
pre-diabetes condition.
Internet or communication technology as a learning tool
The far-reaching impacts of technological interventions cannot be denied in modern
context, as they have become an indispensable part of everyone’s life. The world is virtually
brought before us with just one click. Therefore, it would be foolish not to invest in rather ignore
the technological resources as an effective tool to manage the diabetes condition. First of all,
after seeking necessary permission from the concerned authorities, the target group individuals
will be informed about the commencement of the diabetes educational program in their personal
mobile phone numbers. They will be invited to join the program. Further intimation will be sent
through mails in their personal e-mail address. Details about the diabetes education outlining the

8
DIABETES EDUCATION
objective, resources and benefits all will be sent through the mails. They will be asked to revert
in the mail regarding their willingness to join the program and based on the responses received
from them; the educational program will be introduced. The mails seeking their approval of
attending the programs will be circulated well in advance, in the month of September nearly one
month before the introduction of the proposed education program. Both the mobile services and
internet will thus be utilized to reach onto the wider audience in a more simpler way (Cotter et al,
2014). The time, venue, medical check-up details will all be reached to the target audience by
means of using the internet services as all subsequent communications will be made through e-
mails only. Any sort of feedback, grievances on the part of the attending individuals will be
entertained through the e-mails. Follow up about their health in post attendance phase of the
diabetes educational program will also be solicited through e-mails by the use of internet
technology. All the medical documents and pathological test reports that will be done free of cost
as part of the free medical check-up initiative to know about the health of the attending
individuals will also be sent to the personal e-mail IDs of the target group individuals. Thus,
effective utilization of these advanced technologies will ease out the process of communication
and generate positive outcomes in terms of improving the educational program initiative by
reaching onto a wider audience in just one go (Sepah, Jiang & Peters, 2015). Mobile health
technology has garnered considerable attention in recent years as a mean of checking on certain
health related parameters. Through installing certain applications in the smart phones, precise
data relating to health parameters may be generated. The target group will be informed about the
effectiveness and limitations of using such technology in the educational program (Free et al.,
2013). A day before the health educational session, auto generated messages will be sent to the
registered mobile numbers of the target audience so that they do not miss-out on the program.

9
DIABETES EDUCATION
Need of resources
Accurate and adept application of the available resources in case of the proposed program
will account for its success. In order to guide the target group in the right track, expert guidance
from competent healthcare professionals and educators will be sought. Diabetes educator team
will comprise of an endocrinologist who will deal with the clinical aspect of the diabetes disease
and inform the audience about the medical aspect of the disease and will also supervise,
comment on the data obtained from medical check-up for the attending individuals. A physical
fitness trainer will highlight on the importance of performing desired levels of physical activity
in a daily basis and recommend the suitable duration and intensity of physical activity that might
be helpful to deal with diabetes (Ma et al, 2013). Knowledge about the existing guidelines and
recommendations to deal with the diabetes condition will be disseminated as well (American
Diabetes Association, 2016). A nutritionist will also guide the audience about maintaining a
healthy lifestyle through following a balanced diet plan that might be suitable for keeping the
blood sugar level under control. The consulting dietician will suggest the right proportion of
carbohydrate, fat and protein that one need to follow so that diabetes may be prevented or if
present managed properly. All the attendees will have an opportunity of carrying out a follow up
session with the concerned expert. Moreover, mobile and internet services besides the clinical
technique to measure the health-related parameters will be utilized as an integral component of
the educational program (Johnson et al, 2013). Navigation of information and carrying out
effective communication between the healthcare educator and learner will be ensured and
encouraged by these technological interventions through bridging the gaps (Dunkley et al, 2013).
Prudent and pragmatic handling of all the resources will drive ultimate success.

10
DIABETES EDUCATION
Evaluation of the effectiveness of the program
In any interventional approach, it is essential to evaluate the effectiveness so that the
program may be implemented at later hours for harboring positive outcomes. Diabetes being a
threatening disorder calls for proper evaluation to understand the efficacy of the intervention
(Kahn & Davidson, 2014). A diligent group of individuals will be recruited who will be
responsible for checking out whether all the resources in line with the educational program are
functioning in proper order or not and any malfunctioning will be promptly reported to the
higher authority for a possible resolution (Li et al, 2015). Cost-effective funding for the proposed
program will also be assessed in the process (Morgan et al, 2014). In the follow up session,
whether the attendees benefited from participation by recording and analyzing their health-
related parameters in pre and post program attendance phase will also be checked (Orchard et al,
2013). The extent of fruitfulness of Diabetes management education may thus be indicated
through these evaluation approaches.
Conclusion
Health promotion is a multimodal approach in which active cooperation and coordination
among the participating groups and individuals is solicited to derive positive outcomes.
Necessary collaborative feedback is desired from the healthcare professionals and other
stakeholders to account for optimal changes that might be beneficial to the generation of holistic
outcomes for patients. Diabetes being a chronic metabolic syndrome and having association with
the emanation of other co-morbidities calls for all round support and prudent interventions, of
which self-care is a vital component. Imparting of appropriate and adequate education about the
disease process alongside ways of combating the challenges to the target group might generate
positive results that in turn will help in enhancing the quality of living and overall health status

11
DIABETES EDUCATION
of the affected individuals. Adoption of suitable lifestyle modifications alongside utilization of
appropriate resources that will contribute towards the success of the program may be fruitful in
this regard to achieve the most of benefits through such compliance.

12
DIABETES EDUCATION
References
American Diabetes Association. (2014). Diagnosis and classification of diabetes
mellitus. Diabetes care, 37(Supplement 1), S81-S90.
American Diabetes Association. (2016). Standards of medical care in diabetes—2016 abridged
for primary care providers. Clinical diabetes: a publication of the American Diabetes
Association, 34(1), 3.
Atkinson, M. A., Eisenbarth, G. S., & Michels, A. W. (2014). Type 1 diabetes. The
Lancet, 383(9911), 69-82.
Cotter, A. P., Durant, N., Agne, A. A., & Cherrington, A. L. (2014). Internet interventions to
support lifestyle modification for diabetes management: a systematic review of the
evidence. Journal of Diabetes and its Complications, 28(2), 243-251.
Coudrillier, B., Pijanka, J., Jefferys, J., Sorensen, T., Quigley, H. A., Boote, C., & Nguyen, T. D.
(2015). Effects of age and diabetes on scleral stiffness. Journal of biomechanical
engineering, 137(7), 071007.
Dunkley, A. J., Bodicoat, D. H., Greaves, C. J., Russell, C., Yates, T., Davies, M. J., &Khunti,
K. (2014). Diabetes prevention in the real world: effectiveness of pragmatic lifestyle
interventions for the prevention of type 2 diabetes and of the impact of adherence to
guideline recommendations. Diabetes care, 37(4), 922-933.
Free, C., Phillips, G., Galli, L., Watson, L., Felix, L., Edwards, P., ... & Haines, A. (2013). The
effectiveness of mobile-health technology-based health behaviour change or disease

13
DIABETES EDUCATION
management interventions for health care consumers: a systematic review. PLoS
medicine, 10(1), e1001362.
Gonder-Frederick, L. (2014). Lifestyle modifications in the management of type 1 diabetes: still
relevant after all these years?.
Inzucchi, S. E., Bergenstal, R. M., Buse, J. B., Diamant, M., Ferrannini, E., Nauck, M., ... &
Matthews, D. R. (2015). Management of hyperglycemia in type 2 diabetes, 2015: a
patient-centered approach: update to a position statement of the American Diabetes
Association and the European Association for the Study of Diabetes. Diabetes
care, 38(1), 140-149.
Johnson, M., Jones, R., Freeman, C., Woods, H. B., Gillett, M., Goyder, E., & Payne, N. (2013).
Can diabetes prevention programmes be translated effectively into real‐world settings and
still deliver improved outcomes? A synthesis of evidence. Diabetic medicine, 30(1), 3-15.
Kahn, R., & Davidson, M. B. (2014). The reality of type 2 diabetes prevention. Diabetes
care, 37(4), 943-949.
Kavita, K. M., & Kumar, A. C. (2015). A Study Of The Behavioral Aspects Of Diabetes Disease
Management.
Li, R., Qu, S., Zhang, P., Chattopadhyay, S., Gregg, E. W., Albright, A., ... &Pronk, N. P.
(2015). Economic Evaluation of Combined Diet and Physical Activity Promotion
Programs to Prevent Type 2 Diabetes Among Persons at Increased Risk: A Systematic
Review for the Community Preventive Services Task ForceEconomics of Lifestyle
Prevention of Type 2 Diabetes. Annals of internal medicine, 163(6), 452-460.

14
DIABETES EDUCATION
Ma, J., Yank, V., Xiao, L., Lavori, P. W., Wilson, S. R., Rosas, L. G., & Stafford, R. S. (2013).
Translating the Diabetes Prevention Program lifestyle intervention for weight loss into
primary care: a randomized trial. JAMA internal medicine, 173(2), 113-121.
McLellan, K. C. P., Wyne, K., Villagomez, E. T., & Hsueh, W. A. (2014). Therapeutic
interventions to reduce the risk of progression from prediabetes to type 2 diabetes
mellitus. Therapeutics and clinical risk management, 10, 173.
Meyer, J. L., & Holland, B. E. (2016). Health Coaching in Faith-Based Community Diabetes
Education. International Journal of Faith Community Nursing, 2(1), 16.
Morgan, P. J., Collins, C. E., Plotnikoff, R. C., Callister, R., Burrows, T., Fletcher, R., ... &
Cook, A. T. (2014). The ‘Healthy Dads, Healthy Kids’ community randomized controlled
trial: A community-based healthy lifestyle program for fathers and their
children. Preventive medicine, 61, 90-99.
Orchard, T. J., Temprosa, M., Barrett‐Connor, E., Fowler, S. E., Goldberg, R. B., Mather, K.
J., ... &Sherif, H. (2013). Long‐term effects of the Diabetes Prevention Program
interventions on cardiovascular risk factors: a report from the DPP Outcomes
Study. Diabetic Medicine, 30(1), 46-55.
Park, H., Park, C., Quinn, L., & Fritschi, C. (2015). Glucose control and fatigue in type 2
diabetes: the mediating roles of diabetes symptoms and distress. Journal of advanced
nursing, 71(7), 1650-1660.
Pugliese, A., Yang, M., Kusmarteva, I., Heiple, T., Vendrame, F., Wasserfall, C., ... & Schatz, D.
A. (2014). The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation Network for Pancreatic Organ

15
DIABETES EDUCATION
Donors with Diabetes (nPOD) Program: goals, operational model and emerging
findings. Pediatric diabetes, 15(1), 1-9.
Rockette-Wagner, B., Edelstein, S., Venditti, E. M., Reddy, D., Bray, G. A., Carrion-Petersen,
M. L., ... & Montez, M. G. (2015). The impact of lifestyle intervention on sedentary time
in individuals at high risk of diabetes. Diabetologia, 58(6), 1198-1202.
Sepah, S. C., Jiang, L., & Peters, A. L. (2015). Long-term outcomes of a Web-based diabetes
prevention program: 2-year results of a single-arm longitudinal study. Journal of medical
Internet research, 17(4).
Taylor, R. (2013). Type 2 Diabetes. Diabetes care, 36(4), 1047-1055.
van Valkengoed, I. G., Vlaar, E. M., Nierkens, V., Middelkoop, B. J., & Stronks, K. (2014). The
uptake of screening for type 2 diabetes and prediabetes by means of HbA1c versus the
oral glucose tolerance test among 18 to 60-year-old men and women of South Asian
origin. culturally targeted diabetes prevention program among South Asians in Dutch
primary care, 89.
Williamson, S. (2014). The diabetes epidemic. Australian Life Scientist, 11(2), 4.