Diabetes in Developing Countries - Essay Example

Diabetes in Developing Countries Diabetes is considered as the disease of modern civilization as more and more people are suffering from this disease. Though the overall causes of diabetes may be different however, the increase in the overall incidences of diabetes suggests that it is fast becoming an important public health issue. In simple terms, diabetes means the blood glucose or blood sugar level is too high. Though the body needs natural level of glucose to actually use it as energy source however, too much of the glucose level may not be good for the body and may result into diabetes. Type-1 Diabetes Type-1 diabetes is often called the juvenile onset diabetes and often occurs to the young people under the age of 20. Persons suffering from type-1 diabetes are often thin and suffer due to the inability of their pancreas to make the insulin. Since the naturally ability of such individuals is restricted therefore such individuals are always required to take insulin either through the injections or insulin pumps. Type-II Diabetes Type-II diabetes is also adult onset diabetes and occurs mostly due to the condition called insulin resistance. Type-II diabetes often occurs after the age of 35 and those suffering from Type-II diabetes are often heavy and overweight in nature. Most of the incidences of diabetes occur due to type-II diabetes and over 80% of the population suffers from this type of population. To overcome type-II diabetes, lifestyle changes are required including that of initiating diet and exercise regimes which help to control the blood sugar level. Since more and people are suffering from diabetes and it is also linked with heart disease along with high blood pressure and cholesterol therefore it may be one of the important public health issues to deal with. Intended Audience This communication plan will be focused upon on increasing the overall awareness of the stakeholders regarding diabetes. Since, it has become a public health issue therefore it requires a comprehensive approach and involvement of different stakeholders to develop and design an appropriate response to the same. This communication plan is aimed at improving the overall awareness regarding diabetes in developing countries with special focus on the sub-Saharan Africa. Further, this communication plan will also focus upon USA. The overall target audience of this communication plan is: 1. Public Health Officials 2. Politicians 3. Medical Professionals 4. Donors 5. General Public The above target audience included relatively all the stakeholders whose decisions as well as actions will have direct impact upon the overall public health policies will be shaped to raise the overall awareness of diabetes. The overall theoretical underpinnings of this communication plan are based upon the social cognitive theory. Social cognitive theory suggests that people may not be able to learn things on their own and their learning needs to be rooted into their social experiences and their observation of seeing others doing the things. It is therefore critical to note that individual learning is the direct result of the social experiences and observation of others doing certain things. Methods The initial methods will be based upon using a mix of different methods according to their overall effectiveness as well as relevance. Following methods will be used: 1. Publishing reports and sending of the same to all stakeholders. 2. Creation and maintaining of a web portal offering information in the local languages spoken in Sub-Saharan countries. 3. Individual presentations and information sessions for Politicians and Public Health Professionals. 4. Walks and other events to involve general public to raise overall awareness regarding the diabetes. 5. Social Media These methods are not only effective but least expensive too thus making them more practical for this communications plan. Goals The overall goals to be achieved through this communication plan include creating social change, changing behaviors as well as increasing awareness. The social change will be focused more on ensuring that people make required dietary and exercise changes in order to reduce the incidences of diabetes. Further, the changing of behaviors will be associated with the social change because changing behaviors will require lifestyle changes and may require a gradual process to achieve the change. Through this effort, medical professionals, nutritionists as well as other technical experts will be consulted to design and develop the changes which can be easily integrated into the lifestyle of the intended audience. Since, the intended audience of this program also includes people from Sub-Saharan Africa therefore the overall goal will be to focus on achieving social change which can be easily acceptable and is within the economic reach of target audience. Communication Tools to be used Social Media is fast becoming an important communication channel which is not only cost effective but more penetrating also. Over a billion population is using social media in various forms however, more and more people are using Facebook and Twitter as two of the most important social media channels. In order to comprehensively design this communication plan, following communication tools will be used: Social Media A separate Facebook Page will be created to improve the awareness about diabetes, share personal stories of all those who have been successful in managing their diabetes and other information and news from the project. A YouTube channel will be opened which will be telecasting the expert interviews as well as other video material creating more awareness regarding the diabetes. A dedicated episode will be running weekly informing the viewers about the lifestyle changes required to improve the overall response to diabetes. (Weare, 2004) Television and Other Media It is also important to note that along with social media, other methods of communication will be used too. More importantly, radio campaign will be started in local languages in order to relay the constant messages to the target audience to create more awareness. Radio messages of shorter duration will be played during the day on famous FM channels. TV ads will also be played on the local channels with special messages being relayed during the prime time period to further increase the overall effectiveness of the message. The above tools selected are important and can be effective for our target audience due to following two important reasons: 1. There are millions of people who are using social media and young people are active on social media more than any other strata of the population. Social media therefore gives a cost effective alternative to reach millions of people in quick time. 2. Radio can be effective to reach the target audience in Sub-Saharan countries as people may not be used to the social media and other communication tools. Radio is often a cheap alternative to other sources such as TV and Personal Computers. It is critical to note that the message relayed on social media can be changed based upon the social media used. It can be done in following ways: 1. On Facebook, one can share the pictures and long text messages besides allowing followers of the page to comment. As such the message can be tailored accordingly. 2. On YouTube, long videos can be placed and more detailed instructions and awareness messages can be relayed visually. It is also critical to note that the overall communication message can be changed based upon the age, literacy level as well as the community. It is necessary due to following reasons: 1. The overall impact of diabetes can be different on each age group besides the reaction to the lifestyle changes required may be different. It is therefore important to actually change the message according to the age. 2. Many people in Sub-Saharan African countries may not have access to the social media or they may not be able to read. As such, it is important to inform them through TV and Radio so that they can actually hear and watch about diabetes to improve their overall awareness. 3. Many communities may be reluctant to adapt to certain technology related messages, it therefore may be necessary to change the message. The above communication plan can be marketed in following ways: 1. Social Media Ads 2. Ads in local radio and TV. Engage Target Audience The intended target audience of this communication plan is those people who are either suffering from diabetes or more susceptible to acquire the same. Besides, this communication plan is also targeting the politicians, public health professionals as well as healthcare service providers. The overall audience therefore is a mix of all the stakeholders who will be either directly or indirectly involving the overall decision making process or will be affected by this disease In order to involve the targeted community, following methods may be involved: 1. Invite the community to participate in the events and actively participate on social media. 2. Create a network effect through which each participant will be pursued to actually involve their family and friends in the awareness campaign. 3. Politicians as well as other professionals will be directly approached through letters and personal representations to make them aware about this campaign besides soliciting their help to advance the overall message to the wider level audience. Public Relations with the community will be maintained in following manner: 1. Local media will be invited to cover the events besides offering them required material and other information to be published. More focus will be on taking the help from the local media to cover the events and provide us the required level of voluntary exposure to a wider level of audience. (Wilkins, 2000) 2. Public information desks will be created to ensure a liaison with the public to offer ready and available information besides marketing the overall campaign. Behavioral Changes Required The key audience of this campaign will be people from US and Sub-Saharan African countries who may be at the risk of diabetes. The key behavior changes expected from this effort will be the lifestyle changes in order to reduce the overall impact of same on the target audience. This behavior change will include making dietary and exercise changes. (Barnard & Lloyd, 2012) Apart from this, it is expected that other stakeholders i.e. politicians and public health officials will be more active in their support to improve the awareness of diabetes. This will include their participation in the events, help required in arranging the public resources. The overall behavior change expected from this group will be the required support they can offer. Stakeholders One of the key stakeholders will be American Diabetes Association which will be pursued and partnered with in order to provide the required support. Apart from this, in sub-Saharan African countries, pharmaceuticals will be pursued to actually help produced least expensive insulin especially for children so that children can be offered effective treatment at the relatively cheaper level. It is also important to note that the local communities at the town and city levels will also be within the stakeholders groups. These local communities will be pursued to volunteer for raising awareness at the smaller neighborhood level so that language barriers can be overcome besides ensuring local support. How Stakeholders can Impact Planning The overall influence of stakeholders is considered as necessary as this influence often defines the overall outcomes which need to be achieved. (Siegel & Lotenberg, 2008). The stakeholders can influence the planning process or its implementation in following manner: 1. Local communities may not be ready to commit resources which can be used to raise awareness at the local level. This may due to lack of resources at their end or simply unwillingness to contribute. 2. The general public may influence the overall process due to their lack of interest and active participation. Barriers to access target audience One of the key challenges to reach to the target audience especially in the Sub-Saharan countries will be the language barriers which may not be overcome until local communities are not involved. Another barrier to reach the target audience may be the lack of funding required to develop and implement this plan. How these barriers can be addressed? These barriers can be addressed by developing close liasioning with the local communities while on the other hand soliciting more donors for this campaign. Implementation and Evaluation The overall plan will be implemented in following manner: 1. Total timeline to implement will be three months. 2. Milestones to be achieved include: Soliciting of stakeholders including American Diabetes Association. Creation of Facebook and YouTube channels. Achieving at least 100,000 page likes and subscribers Recording of first video message. Training local communities in Sub-Saharan countries to further create awareness about diabetes. Printing of material to increase awareness of the program and diabetes. Public Message The overall public message will be based upon following important elements: 1. Diabetes is on the rise and more and people are becoming victims of the same. 2. Lifestyle changes are required to manage diabetes. 3. How we can help you to achieve these changes. The message with above elements will be relevant and achieve the results because it is focused upon the overall interests of the stakeholders and how they can incorporate the required changes to effectively manage their diabetes. Culturally Relevant and Sensitive Material The overall nature of the incidences of diabetes is relatively different in their context as compared to the incidences in USA. In order to incorporate culturally relevant and sensitive material, following approach will be used: 1. Locals will be hired to communicate the message to culturally sensitive communities. 2. The overall message will be delivered in local languages with the participation from the local communities to communicate the message in neutral and culturally appropriate message for the target audience. (Resnick & Siegel , 2012) Legal and Ethical Issues Following potential legal or ethical issues may arise: 1. Stakeholders and communities may suggest that the individual consent of the target audience may need to be obtained before communicating the message. 2. Privacy of patient information may attract legal issues. In order to overcome these issues, following strategies will be adapted: 1. Prior consent of all participants will be obtained. 2. All existing laws regarding privacy will be followed with explicit disclosures that personal information will be kept secret and will only be forwarded with the explicit consent and permission of the individual. Evaluation Methods In order to evaluate this campaign, following parameters will be used: 1. Number of people reached in actual versus the overall target number of people. 2. The reduction in the overall incidences of diabetes or its management over a certain period. 3. Quantum of funds obtained from donors to further extend the communication plan. Social Change This program will achieve the required level of social change by working with people at local community level. The overall purpose of this program is to increase the awareness about diabetes and what type of lifestyle changes may be required to control and minimize the damage to be done by diabetes. The overall social change to be achieved therefore will be focused upon less disease and availability of inexpensive and readily accessible material which can help people to manage their diabetes while spending less on their medical treatment. By following the message of this plan, people are expected to make lifestyle changes and reduce their medical expenditure. Bibliography Barnard, K. D., & Lloyd, C. (2012). Psychology and Diabetes Care: A Practical Guide. London: Springer. JC, M. (2009). Making a difference to global diabetes. Diabetes Voice, 54(3). Resnick, E., & Siegel , M. (2012). Marketing Public Health. New York: Jones & Bartlett Publishers. Siegel, M., & Lotenberg, L. (2008). Marketing Public Health: Strategies to Promote Social Change. New York: Jones & Bartlett Publishers. Weare, K. (2004). What impact is information technology having on our young people's health and well-being? Health Education, 104(3), 129-131. Wilkins, K. G. (2000). Redeveloping Communication for Social Change: Theory, Practice, and Power. New York: Rowman & Littlefield. Read More