Diabetes Policy Implementation

This assignment focuses on the development of a health policy to address the diabetes epidemic in Australia. It discusses the prevalence of diabetes, risk factors, complications, and the need for controlling diabetes. The policy proposes strategies such as screening sessions, health education, obesity prevention, practical education on blood glucose monitoring, and foot ulcer prevention. The policy aims to raise awareness, promote healthy behaviors, and improve the quality of life for individuals with diabetes.

Running head: DIABETES POLICY IMPLEMENTATION
DIABETES POLICY IMPLEMENTATION
Name of the student:
Name of the university:
Author note:

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Introduction:
Diabetes is a chronic health condition that affects the blood glucose level of the body and
results in failing of different organs of the body of not controlled. Every day in the nation of
Australia, about 275 people in the nation develop diabetes, which increases their risks for organ
failures when not maintained. It has affected about 85% of the population making people to
suffer from poor quality lives. It had also resulted in huge health burden on the nation. It also
gives rise to many other health conditions that affect the quality of life of patients (Rosella et al.,
2016). Hence, policy needs to be developed to develop awareness and plan strategies by which
this disorder can be tackled successfully and a fitter nation can be achieved free from diabetes
disorders. This assignment is based on development of such a health policy on the recent health
concern of diabetes in nation of Australia.
Policy name:
Controlling the Diabetes Epidemic: Guidelines and Strategies for Action
Policy purpose:
Diabetes can be described as the chronic disorder that is mainly characterized by high
levels of glucose concentration in the blood. The blood sugar levels are mainly managed by the
insulin, which is a hormone, released from the cells of the pancreas. Diabetes can take place
when pancreas is unable to produce enough insulin as in case of type-1 diabetes or when the
body becomes resistant to insulin called the diabetes 2. The National Health survey conducted in
the nation of Australia had shown statistical data which states that it has become one of the
largest health burdens of the nation (Egede et al., 2015). About 1.2 million people who are aged
2 years or above accounting for about 5.1% of the population are diagnosed with the disorder. Of

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those who had reported being diagnosed with the disorder in the year 2014-2015, about 85% of
the people had been seen to be suffering from type-2 diabetes and 13.5% of the people had
reported with type-1 diabetes. Diabetes prevalence had shown that the rate of disorder gad
doubled between the year 1989-90 and 2004-2005. After being stabilized between the period of
2007-2008 and that of 2011-2012, the rate had increased from that of 4.45 to that of 5.1% in the
year 2014-2015. Moreover, type 2 diabetes is seen to be more pronounced in the aboriginal and
Torres Islanders with about 12.8% of the people aged 15 years and above showing that they
suffer from diabetes type-2. This data shows that diabetes has become an epidemic in the nation
with about 85% of the people being affected and hence health policy is important for the
development of awareness and proper infrastructure in the communities to tackle the situation.
Risk factors for diabetes:
Some of the risk factors for diabetes are obesity and overweight, age being above 45,
having family history of diabetes, belonging to tribes like aboriginals African American, Alaska
Native, American Indian, Asian American, Hispanic/Latino, Native Hawaiian, or Pacific Islander
and others. Other risk factors are having high blood pressure, having high level of triglycerides
and low levels of HDL, being physically inactive and others. Others are having heart disorders,
depression, polycystic ovarian syndrome, and acanthosis nigricans.
Reasons for the need of controlling diabetes:
Present data shows that about 16400 Australian deaths in the year 2015 because of
diabetes had taken place and half of them accounting for about 55% of them were suffering from
type-2 diabetes. Death and hospitalization rates because of diabetes were seen to be twice as high
in the remote and the very remote areas as that in the major cities. There were about 1 million

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hospitalizations in the year 2015-2016. This was because of diabetes that can thereby show the
economic burden that the disorder might be resulting on the healthcare sector (Chiapperino et al.,
2016). Socioeconomic disadvantage was also found to be associated with higher incidence of
diabetes like hospitalization, death, poor quality life, absence from workplaces and schools and
others, which result in poor quality lives of the people of the nation. This shows how the disorder
is affecting the lives of the people that make it important for developing a policy to tackle the
situation successfully. Total annual cost impact of that of diabetes in the nation is estimated to be
around $14.6 billion that might affect the healthcare industry because of the huge burden of
impacts of diabetes.
Complications resulting from diabetes:
One of the most important complications of diabetes is blindness. Diabetes is considered
to be one of the leading causes of preventable disorder in the nation of Australia. Between 25%
and 35% of the people in the nation has reported of diabetic retinopathy. Diabetic macula edema
is also reported among 15% of the people in the nation who had been already identified with
diabetes. The total indirect cost of the vision loss associated with diabetic macular edema in the
nation is estimated for about $2.07 billion per annum. This is more than $28,000 per person with
that of the diabetic macular edema.
Another important complication that also is seen to be associated with the disorder of
diabetes is amputation. There are more than 4400 amputations every year in the nation as the
result of diabetes. In the year 2005, more than 1000 people with that of diabetes died as the
result of foot ulcers and lower limb wounds, which accounted for about 8% of all the deaths
occurring because of diabetes. Every year, there are about 10000 hospitals admission in the

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nation for diabetes related foot ulcers in the nation and many of these are seen to end with people
having a limb or part of the limb amputated. Experts are of the opinion that diabetic foot
disorders in the nation cost around $875 million every single year.
Another important complication that arises when patients suffer from diabetes is heart
disorders. People with diabetes are seen to be between two and four times more likely to develop
cardiovascular disorders. Heart disorder is also considered to be the number one cause of the
death for the people who are suffering from diabetes type-2 and contributes to almost two-thirds
of all deaths in the people of the nation. It has been also found that about 1 to 35 of the people
suffer from type-2 diabetes and thereby experience a heart attack every year. This shows that
within a given year about 11000 and 33000 of the Australians are seen to suffer from diabetes
related heart attack. Almost about two-third of the people in nation suffer from diabetes report
some forms of cardiovascular disorder. It has been also found that people with diabetes are seen
to develop the cardiovascular disorder.
All these information show that diabetes itself is not only result in the increasing health
burden on the nation but also gives rise to many other chronic health conditions which in turn
affects not only the physical health of the people but also their financial stability affecting their
quality of lives. Hence, the policy should be introducing different important strategies by which
they can help the citizens to become aware of the disorder and help them overcome any
important barriers that prevent them from living better quality lives.

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Policy addressing the issue:
Important strategies need to be developed by concerned authorities to help every communities of
the nation safe from the occurrence of diabetes. The various actions that would be taken to tackle
the situations of diabetes are as follows:
 One of the most important preventive measures for diabetes management is developing
screening sessions by the healthcare professionals in the community halls or in the
primary healthcare centers, schools, colleges, universities as well as in working
organizations. Often many vulnerable individuals are there who do not remain aware of
their abnormal blood glucose levels (Mozaffarian, 2016). This makes them often exposed
to complications when symptoms start to be visible. Hence, bi-monthly or tri-monthly
screening sessions should be arranged to identify vulnerable individuals and make them
aware of the need of treatment before situations worsen
 Another important preventive measure would be arranging for health education sessions
in the community halls on weekends or in schools, universities, and working
organizations on weekdays by health educators and trainers. Such professionals would
educate the people of the communities about the disorder in details, the risk factors that
cause the disorders as well as the health complications that arise from them. These would
help in spreading awareness among the members of the community making them careful
about health behaviors as well as important lifetime choices that would prevent them
from being affected by the disorders
 Another important risk factor that leads to diabetes is being overweight and obesity.
Hence, the local government would need to collaborate with the community healthcare
professionals and diabetes educators and experts. They would need to restrict the sale of

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low nutrient and calorie dense take-away foods and fast foods and sweetened beverages
that increase the chance of obesity. In place, they should reduce the price of nutrient rich
organic foods so that every members of the community can buy them easily and consume
them reducing chance of obesity (Eder et al., 2019). The local government would also
take initiatives to develop playgrounds, green fields, and parks where people can engage
in jogging, brisk walking, running, sports, cycles and brisk activities as these would help
in burning the calories and preventing obesity. These environmental modification can
help individuals to undertake proper physical exercise and intake food which would help
in managing weight and prevent the risk of diabetes
 Another important action plan would be developing practical education sessions where
individuals would be taught about the ways by which they can measure their blood
glucose level with the help of a the glucometer. Glucometer can be described as the
medical equipment that helps people in the community to check their blood glucose level
by themselves and thereby understand whether the level is within control or not. The
utilization of this medical equipment can thereby make individuals aware and take
necessary step like calling in for professional help when the level of glucose is good to be
abnormal as this might lead to threatening health situations. In the practical sessions, the
healthcare professionals should mainly employ the teach-back method where the
professional would ask the patient to show and explain the procedure by him or herself.
This would directly help the professionals to understand whether any gap in
understanding and skill is present or not. Accordingly, the professional would be taking
necessary steps

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 The next step would be to educate the people in the community about how affected
individuals can prevent any forms of foot ulcers. Foot ulcers are found to be intricately
associated with diabetes and often lead to severe infections, sepsis and even foot
amputations resulting in poor quality lives. Hence, the health professionals should first
try to make them aware how foot ulcers occur and the necessity of having regular
checkups about their foot conditions (Childs, 2018). The professionals would also check
the foot condition of the people and instruct them of interventions or provide them
advises about how to take care successfully. This would help in reducing the chances of
individuals from being affected by foot ulcers.
How can the policy are put into practice:
In order to put the policy in practice, an inter-sectoral collaborative approach is required
from all the governmental and non-governmental organizations involved in the preparation of the
policy. The policy makers, healthcare researchers, and healthcare professionals need to undertake
extensive research about the factors resulting in developing of diabetes in nations and the
consequences associated with it. The data collected would then be analyzed and the collated
together to obtain necessary information from the obtained data. Accordingly, in the next step,
healthcare funding organizations along with healthcare professionals, department of health of the
nation, private and governmental healthcare organizations along with policy makers would lay
down the planning stages to develop the actions plans. Following the planning stage, the
different governmental and non-governmental organizations that would be included in
implementation process like development of health education sessions, allotment of community

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halls, arranging for screening sessions and others would be consulted and worked collaboratively
as a team. The local government and funding organizations would also need to work together to
ensure that the policy is implemented without facing nay barriers due to economic constraints.
Following implementation, monitoring committees would be then set who would evaluate the
outcomes of the policy implementation and following the data obtained after evaluation, further
changes would be done if required to reach the main goal set by the policy makers (Munro et al.,
2019).
Health education model used for ensuring that people follow the policy:
The Trans-theoretical Model (also called the Stages of Change Model) contains six
important stages, which are pre-contemplation, contemplation, preparation, action, maintenance,
and termination. The first stage is called the pre-contemplation stage where people do not intend
to take any action in the fore-seeable future, as they mainly remain unaware that their behaviors
might affect their health or result in negative consequences. Initially, before the introduction of
the diabetes policy people would be unaware about their vulnerability of developing diabetes or
the ways their poor lifestyle factors might result in diabetes. The second stage is called the
contemplation stage where the people would be intending to begin the healthy behavior in the
foreseeable future (Ackerman et al., 2015). After the introduction of the policy, it would be
emailed to every households of the community and hard copies would be sent to the people in
the community. In this step, the people would be recognize after reading the policy that their
behaviors may be problematic and they would at least start considering the pros and cons of the
changing the behaviors. The third stage is called the preparation stage where people would be
ready to take the actions within the next 30 days. People take small changes and that they believe
that changing their behavior can lead to better healthier lives. The healthcare professionals would

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be conducting the health education sessions in the community halls, schools, universities, and
offices where they would be encouraging the people to follow the policy and at the same time
describe the disorder in details, risk factors, complications, and others. The fourth stage is called
the action stage, where people would have recently changed their behaviors and intend to follow
the path suggested for the behavior change. Here, the monitoring committee would evaluate
whether the people are following the action strategies that had been mentioned in the policy.
Following the action plan would help them to change their behavior and be more aware of their
diabetes vulnerability (Ricci-Cabello et al., 2015). The fifth stage is called maintenance stage
where people would be sustaining their behavior changes for a while and thereby intend in
maintaining the behavior change while moving forward. The evaluating committee would
analyze the alignment of the people of the community with that of the strategies mentioned on
the the policy. Higher, the alignment higher would be the level of success of the policy and better
will be the achievement of the goal.
Conclusion:
From the above discussion, it can be seen that diabetes is one of the leading health
concern of the nation that is becoming a health burden in the nation. Hence, a policy needs to be
developed to help people become aware of the disorder. This policy should provide strategies by
which the people might overcome their barriers and develop better quality lives. Screening
sessions, advises over good food habits, physical exercises, health education session, handling of
glucometer, foot ulcer monitoring, inter-sectoral collaboration and many others are mentioned in
the policy. These would help the communities overcome their risks of being affected from
disorders and live in their best health.

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References:
Chiapperino, L., & Tengland, P. A. (2016). Empowerment in healthcare policy making: three
domains of substantive controversy. Health Promotion Journal of Australia, 26(3), 210-
215.
Childs, C. J. (2018). Exploring compassion, shame and the healthcare system in relation to self-
care in type 2 diabetes(Doctoral dissertation, University of Hull).
Eder, S., Leierer, J., Kerschbaum, J., Rosivall, L., Wiecek, A., de Zeeuw, D., ... & Mayer, G.
(2019). Guidelines and clinical practice at the primary level of healthcare in patients with
type 2 diabetes mellitus with and without kidney disease in five European
countries. Diabetes and Vascular Disease Research, 16(1), 47-56.
Egede, L. E., Gebregziabher, M., Zhao, Y., Dismuke, C. E., Walker, R. J., Hunt, K. J., & Axon,
R. N. (2015). Differential impact of mental health multimorbidity on healthcare costs in
diabetes. The American journal of managed care, 21(8), 535-544.
Mozaffarian, D. (2016). Dietary and policy priorities for cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and
obesity: a comprehensive review. Circulation, 133(2), 187-225.
Munro, S., Kornelsen, J., Wilcox, E., Kaufman, S., Bansback, N., Corbett, K., & Janssen, P.
(2019). Implementation of shared decision-making in healthcare policy and practice: a
complex adaptive systems perspective. Evidence & Policy: A Journal of Research,
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Ricci-Cabello, I., Violán, C., Foguet-Boreu, Q., Mounce, L. T., & Valderas, J. M. (2015). Impact
of multi-morbidity on quality of healthcare and its implications for health policy, research

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and clinical practice. A scoping review. European Journal of General Practice, 21(3),
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Rosella, L. C., Lebenbaum, M., Fitzpatrick, T., O'reilly, D., Wang, J., Booth, G. L., ... &
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