Health Promotion Strategies for Chronic Disease Management Report

This report examines health promotion and illness prevention practices through a case study of Mrs. Anna Lenska, a 68-year-old woman with type 2 diabetes and a venous leg ulcer. The report identifies her health concerns, including hypoglycemia, and proposes two key educational topics: healthy diet for diabetic patients and venous leg ulcer management. It outlines the components of a diabetic diet and the management of venous leg ulcers. Furthermore, the report details two patient education strategies: organizing a diabetes education program involving a diabetes educator and a dietitian, and utilizing technology to provide educational resources, such as videos and online support groups, for venous leg ulcer management. The report emphasizes the importance of culturally safe health promotion strategies to empower patients in self-managing their chronic conditions.

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05 Sep 2019
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Introduction
The present report is based on health promotion and illness prevention practices. It emphasizes
on designing health promotion programs for keeping people healthy. These programs engage and
empower individuals to choose healthy behavior and thereby minimize the risk of developing
chronic diseases (Murdaugh, Parsons, & Pender, 2018). It is based on person centered care for
self-management of chronic diseases. The report has analyzed primary Health Care as well as
health promotion strategies in regards to the selected case study. The primary objective of the
assignment is to identify the health issue of the concerned client and accordingly design safe
health promotion and education strategies. These educational strategies should be able to address
the requirements of client suffering with chronic diseases and make them empowered to manage
their condition by themselves (Kemppainen, Tossavainen, & Turunen, 2013).
Overview
The present case study is about the health condition of Mrs. Anna Lenska. She is a 68
years old woman and has been retired from her job. She has lost her husband years ago and
presently lives alone. She has no immediate family member who can take care of her. She relies
on her neighbor for outdoor activities like shopping or doctor visit. She has been dealing with the
problem of Type 2 diabetes and hypertension. For the last 6 months, she has joined the
community Health service to treat those are present in her right lower leg. The community
Registered Nurses have been dressing her leg ulcer twice a week, which is done according to the
instruction from the wound specialist nurse.
Actual or potential Health concern
One of the actual Health concerns for Mrs. Anna Lenska is a low blood sugar level for
hypoglycemia. This is a situation when the blood sugar level lowers down, that is below
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4mmol/L (Badedi, Solan, Darraj, Sabai, and Mahfouz, 2016). Mrs. Lenska has a history of type 2
diabetes, which increases the risk of a low sugar level. As per the given case study, Mrs. Lenska
is lonely, she has no immediate family members with her. She is fully dependent on her neighbor
for shopping and other activities. However, her neighbor has been away for a few days, and she
is unable to go outside by herself. In their absence, she has reduced her food intake level and
often forgets to take medicines for diabetes regularly. She is also forced to wear an old pair of
shoes in which her toes are tightly closed, as her comfortable shoes are broken down. She also
complains of feeling a bit faint, which reflects a clear symbolization of hypoglycemia. Some of
the primary symptoms associated with hypoglycemia include dizziness, sweating, and fatigue
(Badedi et al, 2016). In addition to this, there are some other symptoms that indicate the low
blood sugar level, that is, feeling hungry, weakness, loss of consciousness, confusion, and pale. It
is mentioned by Badedi et al (2016) that severe hypoglycemia can even lead to coma or even
death.
Two appropriate topics for client education
The first educational topic for the client is “healthy diet for diabetic patients”. A proper
diet for a diabetic patient means intake of healthy food in a moderate quantity and eating meals
at regular intervals. A diabetic diet should be higher in nutrients on the other hand should be
lower in calories and fats (Pelicand, Fournier, Le Rhun, & Aujoulat, 2015). This diet will help
the patient to have control over the blood sugar level, manage weight, and minimize the potential
risk for any heart disease. Some of the key components in a diabetic diet include fruits or
vegetables and whole grains. As a part of healthy eating habits, the diabetic patient should also
be taught about the causes related to high and low blood sugar levels. Hyperglycemia or high
blood sugar level usually occurs when the patient consumes extra fat or calories, which can even
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lead to the damage of the kidney, nerve, and heart (Poudel, Griffiths, Wong, Arora, & George,
2017). On the contrary, hypoglycemia or low blood sugar level usually occurs due to delay or
skip meals. The blood sugar level can be maintained in a safe range by opting for healthy food
choices as well as keeping track of self-eating habits (Eghbali-Zarch, Tavakkoli-Moghaddam,
Esfahanian, Azaron, & Sepehri, 2017). Mrs. Lenska has Type 2 diabetes, and therefore it is
necessary that she should focus on weight loss and healthy eating habits. A diabetic diet basically
includes 3 meals per day at a regular timetable. This scheduled meal plan will help in making
better use of the body-produced or medication-based insulin. In addition to this, it is important to
choose a proper proportion of meal which suits the size and activity level of the patient. It is
recommended by dietitians that diabetic patients should make their calorie count on the basis of
nutrients food. The patients should choose healthy carbohydrates, good fats, fiber-rich food
products. Healthy carbohydrate food includes fruits, vegetables, low-fat dairy products, legumes,
and whole grains. Fiber-rich food mostly includes the plant part food which the body cannot
absorb or digest. It has to moderate the digestive system of the body and control the blood sugar
level. Some of the major fiber-rich products include fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, and
legumes. Good fat either monounsaturated or polyunsaturated fats which help in reducing the
cholesterol level, such as canola oil, olive oil, avocados, nuts, and peanut oils (Badedi et al,
2016). In addition to this, diabetic patients should also eat heart-healthy fish twice a week such
as Solomon, tuna, and mackerel, since these are rich in omega-3 fatty acids. According to the
American diabetes association, half of the plate should consist of non-starchy vegetables, quarter
thoughts would be protein-based food, the remaining quarter should be whole grain items
(Badedi et al, 2016). Good fats such as nuts or avocado and fruit or dairy products should also be
included in the meal.
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The second educational topic for the client is ‘venous leg ulcer management’. A venous
leg ulcer is basically an open wound occurs in the lower leg, particularly between the knee and
ankle. It is usually caused by problems in flowing blood in the veins. Blood flows from heart to
the lower leg and vice versa through activities. However, if the vent valve clogs or the muscles
become weak, then the blood stuck up in the van which eventually causes swelling in the lower
leg. Some of the common risk factors associated with this disease are long-time standing,
diabetes, overweight, older, physically inactive, and family history (Weller, Buchbinder, &
Johnston, 2016). The physical symptoms appear on the surface of the skin on the lower leg. The
patient might feel heaviness, itching or tiredness due to the ulcer. For restricting the spread of
venous leg ulcers, it should be cleaned regularly and immediately consulted with the doctor. The
patient should not wear tight shoes or clothing around the ulcer and protect it from external
injury. Smoking should be immediately stopped for better healing of the ulcer (Alavi, Sibbald,
Phillips, Miller, and Margolis, 2016). Proper nutrition and a healthy diet can promote the wound
to heal at a faster rate. Protein and iron are vital for tissue repair. Egg, meat, poultry, fish and
nuts are protein and iron-rich food products. It is important to drink 8 glasses of water each day
to get enough fluid throughout the body. Healthy diet can help in reducing the chance of venous
leg ulcer, and therefore a person should consume 30 to 35 calories per kg of the body (O’Brien,
Finlayson, Kerr, Shortridge-Baggett, & Edwards, 2018). In this given case study, the ulcer of
Mrs. Lenska has almost healed, and therefore she needs to follow certain precautions to avoid its
spreading in future. It is advisable to wear compression stockings in the ulcer leg for the rest of
your life. The compression stockings should be the first thing that the patient should put in the
morning and then remove during the bedtime. This technique will help in preventing the hose
from coming back in the future and also controls the swelling. For every 3 to 6 months, the
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patient needs to change the stockings. the stockings should be regularly washed and replaced
(Fox, Baquerizo-Nole, Freedman, Liu, and Van Driessche, 2016). The patient should always
keep the skin and wound clean and covered. The body should always be moisturized to prevent
any form of dryness. The patient should do light exercise for proper blood circulation, as per the
recommendation of physician. Diabetic patients should control their blood sugar level by regular
medication (Benevides, Coutinho, Pascoal, Joventino, and Martins, 2016).
Identification and explanation of two specific client education strategies
The first patient education strategy that can be used to educate about healthy diet for
diabetics is to organize diabetes education program. Patient education program is a strategy to
develop planned learning experience which includes teaching, counseling to modify the healthy
behavior and knowledge of patients (Murdaugh et al, 2018). A diabetes education program is
basically an outpatient service, which will be arranged for a particular locality. In this context,
diabetes educator and a dietitian will be involved in the program strategic about the appropriate
diet and physical activity according to their age. The tools to be used in the program includes
diabetes education curriculum and teaching aids, diet plan videos, apps, books, blood sugar level
checking tool, and weight measurement tool (Eghbali-Zarch et al, 2017). The participants
involved in the educational program will be a maximum of 20 people comprising of different age
groups between 50 to 70 years old. It can be arranged in an open setting near the locality Mrs.
lenska, as she has difficulty in traveling far distances alone. Moreover, organizing a group
educational program will help to feel Mrs. Lenska feel better, as she will get the opportunity to
interact with other people of her age group. This approach of group education on diabetes will
not only help to increase her knowledge of diabetic food plan, but also will help to improve her
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physical and mental health condition. In addition to this, the program also aims to remind the
diabetic patients to take their medicine regularly.
The second patient education strategy that is to be used to educate about venous leg ulcer
management is through using technology. Technology makes easy assessment of patient
education materials (Benevides et al, 2016). With the help of Technology educational resources
can be customized according to the patient’s requirements. It sometimes becomes boring for the
patient to read about health education in a stack of papers. For making the educational process
interesting and attractive, the registered nurses can even use graphics, YouTube videos, and
DVDs. Videos are considered as a useful asset to make the patient understand the instructions
related to cleaning ulcer wound, and wearing stockings or compression bandages. Furthermore,
live training sessions can also be provided by pharmacists and registered nurses. Furthermore,
the registered nurses can create an online group where they can connect with Mrs Lenska and
other similar patients suffering from venous leg ulcers and lymphedema (O’Brien et al, 2018). In
this online platform, the healthcare professionals can post recommendations, wound care
techniques, and a healthy diet plan. Furthermore, the patients can ask their leg ulcer related
doubts and assistance. This online educational program can be assessed through smartphone and
laptop. Thus, older people like Mrs. Lenska, who are unable to go outside by themselves can
easily get health related education on their mobile phones.
Conclusion
In summary, the present report illustrates health promotion and disease prevention
practices by taking the case example of Mrs. Anna Lenska. As described Mrs Lenka is a patient
of diabetes and venous leg ulcer, therefore accordingly to client education strategy has been
illustrated. The new client education topics is based on healthy diet for diabetic patient and
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venous leg ulcer management. In addition to this, two educational strategies which would be
used by registered nurses to teach the above mentioned educational topics has also been outlined.
In this context, a diabetes education program and a technology-based online platform will be
created as a part of self-health promotion strategy.
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References
Alavi, A., Sibbald, R. G., Phillips, T. J., Miller, O. F., Margolis, D. J., Marston, W., ... & Kirsner,
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Badedi, M., Solan, Y., Darraj, H., Sabai, A., Mahfouz, M., Alamodi, S., & Alsabaani, A. (2016).
Factors associated with long-term control of type 2 diabetes mellitus. Journal of diabetes
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Benevides, J. L., Coutinho, J. F. V., Pascoal, L. C., Joventino, E. S., Martins, M. C., Gubert, F.
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Eghbali-Zarch, M., Tavakkoli-Moghaddam, R., Esfahanian, F., Azaron, A., & Sepehri, M. M.
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Pelicand, J., Fournier, C., Le Rhun, A., & Aujoulat, I. (2015). Self‐care support in paediatric
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