Solutions to Chronic Illnesses - Essay Example

YOUR YOUR FULL YOUR INSTITUION OR SCHOOL YOUR Prevention: While 60% of deaths are related to achronic illness like diabetes, 70% of those are preventable. In fact, one dollar invested into prevention can save over eight dollars in diabetic expenses according to U.S clinical studies. By investing RMB 1 Yuan in health prevention, up to RMB 3 Yuan - 6 Yuan can be saved (Interview with Dr. Li, 2006). China's prevention program provides important lessons to individuals, community providers, health insurance, and research as one company has provided health management services for its employees since 1987 and, through controlling factors like hypertension, fat intake, and smoking, has saved nearly $ 40 million every year. Strategy: It is essential to redesign healthcare intervention toward diabetic patients, increasing their self-care behavior; especially for workers and the elderly (Bandura, 1997), and education is one key prevention strategy (Jun-Qiao Wang, 1997). Early education enables patients to prevent the disease while reducing the expense of healthcare. Education: Many diabetic patients don't understanding the value of self-care, and helping them acquire the skills to manage their condition is important. According to the International Diabetes Alliance (IDA), more than half of diabetics know nothing about diabetes, and the American disease control center estimates 50% - 80% of diabetes complications can be prevented. Surveys show 58% of diabetics are confused by doctors' instruction, and 35% have damaged their health by not following those instructions. Also, 88% of diabetic patients gain primary knowledge from their doctors while only 9% receive it from nurses. The relationship between nurse and diabetic patient is essential; in developed countries, most diabetes education is gained through nurses rather physicians. Lifestyle Intervention: Medication alone cannot control diabetes, and lifestyle education enables the patient to increase self-management more effectively (Li, 2002). Physical activity can reduce the risk factors, and the Daqing study shows that lifestyle intervention can improve insulin resistance by 46%. The U.S. DPP experiment showed that among 3,200 cases, lifestyle intervention reduced the incidence of diabetes by 58%. Medical intervention is less effective compared to lifestyle intervention (Pan Lizhen, Chinese Nursing Research, 2004). Liu shows intervention is able to reduce glucose and increase the sensitivity of insulin, among other benefits (Liu, 2001), while another survey reveals a 40% decrease (Bing, 2005). Just 30 minutes of walking daily can reduce the level of glucose, and large studies in other nations have recently demonstrated that exercise reduces the incidence of diabetes by more than 50%. Patients: In China, diabetic patients tend to trust drug advertisements rather than healthcare professionals, and many think the side effects of western medicine are stronger than traditional Chinese therapies. Some believethink that the more expensive the medicine, the better health outcome they can achieve; which is a huge economic burden (Jia Fen, Wang Jun, Shanghai University). Most diabetic patients are worried about having an incurable disease, long term injections of insulin, and other factors. Chinese studies show older diabetic patients dislike the outpatient service due to administration and waiting times, while others dislike the inpatient services because of unfamiliar environments. Richard Donnelly shares that most patients in China prefer to use traditional Chinese therapies, and many prefer to combine the best of traditional Chinese with Western treatment. Behavior: Ming Yeong Tan (2003) says that lack of adherence to self-care behaviors requires lifestyle changes for long-term management, and identifying the barriers to behavior is important. It is vital to increase educational programs on patient behavior to improve the quality of life. Health System: In China, health management is often insufficient; insulin is unavailable or unaffordable in many poor areas. In spite of the known benefits of education programs, there is a service gap in the community care of those with diabetes whose care is predominantly medication based (Wai Man Chan, 2004). Previous surveys showed that knowledge regarding the nature of the disease was poor among older people in spite of previous attendance at hospital specialist clinics (Lee & Woo, 2002). The effectiveness of self-management programs has been demonstrated in the community (Lorig et al., 2001), such programs being considered essential particularly in the care of those with diabetes (Izquierdo et al., 2000). Lifestyle changes like incorporating a healthy diet and regular physical activity have been shown to have a beneficial effect on glucose tolerance (Goldhaber-Fiebert, Tristan, Goldhaber-Fiebert, & Narthan, 2003; Tuomilelito et al., 2001). Studies show that a community service model could result in improved physical and psychosocial outcomes. There could also be integration of this model into current health services; in the same way that telemedicine has been adopted in providing health-care support to many residential care homes for older people in Hong Kong (Hui, Woo, Hjelm, Zhang, & Tsui, 2001). Unlike previous models where telemedicine was used in home care for improved diabetes control (Whitlock, Pavliscsak, Dingbaum, & Beaty, 2001) or diabetes education (Izquierdo et al., 2000), this model targets elderly people and incorporates regular exercise. Solution: The media is seen as a primary channel for offering diabetic education, but that is insufficient. Good interaction between diabetic patients and physicians is a much more effective approach. There must be education in the hospital, the community, and from society. Professor Hu proposes raising a troop of experts, doctors, and the media. Education from the doctor to the public is the most effective method; like the Hubei New China hospital constructing a diabetic wing and information system. It will also establish a "new China diabetes website," with on-line announcements regarding patient meetings and other services. Most developed countries have an established diabetes prevention and control system, but China has a long way to go. Traditionally, diabetes education is conducted face to face, but education conducted via telemedicine is able to reach more patients. Moreover, preliminary evidence suggests that patient education conducted via telemedicine is at least as effective as that conducted via traditional encounters. In the present study, the finding was that diabetes education conducted via telemedicine was highly acceptable to patients, and it enabled community nurses in primary care settings to link with nurse specialists for diabetes education in small groups. Low-cost videoconferencing equipment connected by a local-area network was installed in one district hospital, enabling real-time transmission of a diabetes education program. There is a need for improved communication between universities and hospitals both inside and outside China; and Western pharmacologist and clinicians need a better understanding of traditional Chinese medicine. Many other programs and initiatives involving US centers and pharmaceutical companies are making an impact by providing training for healthcare workers in China. Since 1998, education programs in several Chinese cities established ten diabetes training bases and trained 1,577 diabetic health workers from 489 general hospitals and 323 community medical centers, benefiting about 160,000 people. Psychological care: Traditional Chinese medicine applies a ratio of 30% medicine to 70% psychological workout. Yet, psychological care is a fundamental factor for taking daily medicines and diet control in Type 2 diabetes management; an unprepared mental state may worsen symptoms. Read More