Improving Glucometer Self-Efficacy for Older Adults: A Health Program

This report addresses the critical issue of managing diabetes among older adults by focusing on improving their self-efficacy in using glucometers. The prevalence of diabetes in the aging US population is significant, leading to increased health burdens and reduced quality of life. The intervention aims to tackle the inability and lack of motivation among older individuals to effectively use glucometers for self-monitoring blood glucose levels. The health promotion program utilizes social cognitive theory, incorporating elements such as self-efficacy, behavioral capability, expectations, self-control, observational learning, and reinforcements. Specific strategies and interventions are designed to motivate and encourage older adults to use glucometers effectively and consistently, ultimately improving their diabetes management and overall health outcomes.

Running head: GLUCOMETER USE SLEF-EFFICACY
GLUCOMETER USE SLEF-EFFICACY
Name of the student:
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Prevalence of the issue and the target audience:
Diagnosed as well as undiagnosed diabetes have already affected 10.9 million US adults
who are aged 65 years and older. Almost 8 in 10 individuals have been found to suffer from
some form of dysglycemia which had been found from the diagnostic tests like fasting glucose or
hemoglobin A1c. Evidences are of the opinion that among this age group, diagnosed diabetes is
believed to reach about 26.7 million by the year 2050 where it would account for about 555 of all
the diagnosed cases (Sinclair et al. 2015). The American diabetes association had already stated
that 255 of the Americans who are over the age of 60 have diabetes and they have concluded that
aging of the US population is one of the main drivers of the epidemic of diabetes in the nation.
Not only, it had resulted in the increase of health burden in the nation but it had also affected the
longevity, functional status as well as the risk of institutionalization for the older patients. Hence,
it had become one of the most important concerns to educate the older people to manage their
diabetes in proper manner so that they can have better quality life.
Need of the intervention:
One of the most important issues that had been found is the inability as well as lack of
motivation of the older people to use the glucometer in effective ways. Studies are of the opinion
that in order to manage the blood glucose level of individuals with diabetes, it is essential for
them to self-test their blood sugar level in timely manner. This helps individuals to develop an
idea that whether their blood glucose level is within a safer zone or posing a threat on their health
(Ledezma et al. 2018). Not only that, it also helps them in noting down their blood glucose level
on a daily basis and ultimately helps the professionals in gaining idea about the health condition

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and management efficiency of the patients. However, it has been seen that most of the older
patient report that they are not comfortable with the use of technologies and instruments and
hence they avoid them. Many others believe that they are not enough educated to handle the
instruments (Farhan et al. 2017). While others state that they are even not aware of such
instruments. Therefore, development of self-efficacy of the older cohorts of the nation in
measuring their blood glucose level with the help of glucometer would be the main health
promotion program.
Theory of health promotion:
Social cognitive theory can help in this project to achieve the goal of the project. This
theory describes the influence of individuals of the experiences of individuals, the actions of
others as well as the environmental factors on the individual health behaviors. Studies claim that
social-cognitive theory provides opportunities for different types of social support through the
mediums of instilling expectations, self-efficacy as well as using observational learning and the
other reinforcements for achieving behavior changes (Ng et al. 2016). The different component
of this theory that would be applied for developing the self efficacy of old people in using the
glucometer would be “self efficacy”, “behavioral capability”, “expectation”, expectancies, self
control, observational learning as well as “reinforcements”. Each of the step would be
comprising of specific strategies and interventions that would help in motivating and
encouraging the old people affected by diabetes to utilize glucometer effectively and on a daily
basis.

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References:
Farhan, S. A., Shaikh, A. T., Zia, M., Kahara, B. R., Muneer, R., Rehman, M., ...and Tanveer, H.
2017. Prevalence and Predictors of Home Use of Glucometers in Diabetic Patients. Cureus, 9(6).
Ledezma, M., Martinez, F., Rivas, R., Orozco, D., Flores, B., and Lemus, F. 2018. Pmd94-
Economic Evaluation Of Accu-Chek® Instant S Glucometer For The Self-Monitoring Glucose
(Smg) In Patients With Diabetes Mellitus (Dm), From The View Of The Public Healthcare
System In Mexico. Value in Health, 21, S259.
Ng, T.W. and Lucianetti, L., 2016. Within-individual increases in innovative behavior and
creative, persuasion, and change self-efficacy over time: A social–cognitive theory
perspective. Journal of Applied Psychology, 101(1), p.14.
Sinclair, A., Dunning, T. and Rodriguez-Mañas, L., 2015. Diabetes in older people: new insights
and remaining challenges. The lancet Diabetes & endocrinology, 3(4), pp.275-285.