Effective Primary Healthcare in Managing and Treating of Indigenous Diabetes - Term Paper Example

Effective Primary Healthcare in Managing and Treating of Indigenous Diabetes Student’s Name: Instructor’s Name: Course Code and Name: University: Date Assignment is due: Effective Primary Healthcare in Managing and Treating of Indigenous Diabetes There are different people living in different places along the world and have different cultural backgrounds, religions, traditions, languages, as well as histories. Among these people are indigenous and are found in more than 75 countries worldwide. The health of these people differs significantly from that of non-indigenous population along the world. The indigenous population is more prone to certain diseases and hospitalization than the non-indigenous (McDermott 2010, pp. 564). For example, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait islanders in Australia have a high prevalence of diabetes, which is at 27%, and it is six times higher than in the general population (CDC 2011, pp. 6). There is a need to provide eminence primary healthcare service to these people as a way of preventing, diagnosing, treating, as well as caring for them (Improvement 2007, pp. 350). These primary healthcare services should be provided in accordance with the principles of quality primary healthcare. The primary healthcare should be directed toward maternal, child and family health to ensure that their well-being is maintained. These include well child services, which consists of health education and promotion, health protection, clinical assessment and family support. In general primary healthcare consists of health promotion, illness prevention, care for the sick, advocacy for quality healthcare, as well as community health and development. In this essay, we will talk about the diverse issues related to indigenous diabetes in relation to primary healthcare. This will involve health education and promotion, which deals with education indigenous people on how to prevent diabetes, as well as the effects of diabetes. Health promotion will involve the benefits of seeking healthcare services and encouraging the indigenous population to seek medical attention as a way of managing diabetes, as well as treatment (Maple-Brown 2010, pp. 488). Caring for the sick involve the services given to those who are in very serious condition to ensure that their wellbeing is maintained, while advocacy for quality healthcare aims at educating the population on the importance of seeking quality primary healthcare services provided by professionals. Lastly community health and development aims at enlightening the community on different health issues such as diabetes, importance of undertaking a diabetic test, as well as seeking medical attention early enough. This also aims at developing a positive attitude toward diabetes and different healthcare services provided to treat and prevent diabetes among the indigenous people (Kenealy 2010, pp. 257). There are different principles governing the provision of primary healthcare to all people. These principles include equality in primary healthcare; primary healthcare is a fundamental human right, community participation, and maximal community self-reliance, use of socially acceptable technology to deliver primary healthcare, health promotion and diseases prevention, inter sectoral collaboration and integration of health care programs. These principles guide the healthcare providers in the provision of quality primary healthcare to all people in spite of time, race, customs, and sex (Ashcroft 2007, pp. 16). According to these principles, primary healthcare can then be said to be essential care based on realistic, scientifically sound, and collectively acceptable methods and technology. Primary healthcare is also made internationally available and accessible to people and families in different communities through their fully involvement, and the community and the government can meet the expense of to maintain the cost of all stages of development. The first principle is the equality in primary healthcare. This principle ensures that all the healthcare resources are available and accessible in a given community. The healthcare resources should also be affordable and be available in plenty. The indigenous population, which have a high rate of diabetes than the non-indigenous should be provided with the required healthcare resources such as, medication, laboratory tests, and national health insurance among other resources (McDermott 2010, pp. 564). This ensures that the indigenous people have access to quality healthcare services aiming at managing their diabetic condition through the provision of free medication, different and required laboratory tests like random blood sugar, and health insurance scheme to cater for other healthcare services provided. Special care should be provided to pregnant women and children through the maternal and child health clinic. This is to prevent the diabetic condition from affecting their pregnancy or leading to diabetic related diseases, which can lead to miscarriages. Children under a certain age should be immunized against different diseases, which can lead early death. Family food should be adequate, affordable and balanced in nutrition. This will help in maintaining the normal body mass index to prevent obesity, which can lead to diabetes. This principle aims at improving of health status of the indigenous people suffering from indigenous diabetes through improved access to primary healthcare. The second principle addresses the issue of primary healthcare as a fundamental human right. Regardless of the indigenous people being a marginalized group, primary healthcare is a human right to them, and it should be provided without discrimination. Effective care of patients with diabetes should also be provided and includes teaching and sustain in developing self-management skills. The indigenous people suffering from diabetes have the right to seek for medical attention in any healthcare center, where equitable primary healthcare should be provided. Among the services to be provided are different laboratory tests such as random blood sugar to determine if the indigenous individuals are diabetic, and HbA1c test to monitor the management of the diabetic condition among the indigenous people. This aims at improving the health status of the indigenous people to be equal to that of non-indigenous population (CIHI 2009, pp. 21). Another principle is the community participation and self-reliance. Individuals and families of the indigenous people assume responsibility for their own health by this process. They contribute significantly toward development of the community through educating the communities on the need to seek for quality healthcare. Participation can be in the area of identification or during implementation. Indigenous population must be part of community development toward the provision of quality primary healthcare. This ensures effective implementation of polices that advocate for accessibility of quality primary healthcare, which aims at preventing diabetes among the indigenous population (CIHI 2009, pp. 21). In addition, community participation in management and treatment of diabetes among the indigenous people has many advantages such as addressing the felt health needs of the people, ensuring social responsibilities among the community and sustainability. Community participation also ensures cost sharing in management, treatment, education and promotion of primary healthcare among the indigenous people. It ensures the enhancement of knowledge through educating indigenous people on different ways of preventing diabetes, healthy practices like physical activities, nutritional education, and risk of obesity. Community participation also ensures inter sectoral collaboration, which aims at enhancing quality primary healthcare to all marginalized indigenous people. Health promotion is another basic principle of primary healthcare. This involves decentralized management of healthcare centers to ensure that indigenous people have access to quality primary healthcare. Pregnant women should be educated on different issues on health, nutrition, management of different types of diabetes and the need to seek health attention. This promotes health awareness, which can prevent chronic diseases such as heart related infections because of obesity and diabetes (Deshpande, Harris-Hayes & Schootman 2008, pp. 1258). The government should also organize different public forums aiming at educating both indigenous and non-indigenous population on factors leading to different types of diabetes and different ways and managerial skills of diabetes. Children suffering from different types of diabetes are educated on healthy practices of feeding and beneficial types of food to feed on as a managerial way and preventing other infection, which can lead to complication of their condition. The government together with the community can protect good health of indigenous people through early screening, intervention, and population health programs. Different healthcare centers should also be involved in health promotion, through production of facts sheets that provide different hazards and ways of preventing and managing diabetes among pregnant mothers, children, and family at large (Jablonski 2010, pp. 112). Another crucial principle is the collaboration between other sectors, which includes education, finance, agriculture, information, as well as health department. These collaboration aims at supporting the health department in the provision of quality primary healthcare for the indigenous population, which can identify and treat chronic diseases including, diabetes, cardiovascular, and renal diseases (Deshpande, Harris-Hayes & Schootman 2008, pp. 1256). This collaboration ensures development and implementation of different polices, which aims at financing community development programs that enlighten the community on issues such as nutrition, home based management skills and importance of physical activities in management of diabetes (Jablonski 2010, pp. 110). Collaboration between different sectors such as education ensures that different students both indigenous and non-indigenous are educated on different programs, which are integrated with health. These promote health education and provide the required education on chronic diseases like diabetes and heart related diseases (Deshpande, Harris-Hayes & Schootman 2008, pp. 1258). Health promotion must meet the desires and needs of children and family and be delivered using developmental appropriate methods like posters and story books for younger ones and information technology for the older population. The last principle of primary healthcare is the use of socially acceptable technology and prevention of diseases. Technology ensures fast production of results, which can be relied on by healthcare providers in diagnosis of different types of diabetes among the indigenous people. Machines such as gluco-meter for measuring random blood sugar should be available. Other technologies and machines, which can help monitoring diabetes management among the indigenous mothers, children, and families is the HbA1c machine (Cox 2010, pp. 17). Information technology, which involves computers and mobile phones are highly used in educating indigenous people on the right food for diabetic people and different ways of managing different types of diabetes. Diabetes among the indigenous population is associated with different contemporary issues. Among the main contemporary are the complications of diabetes that includes heart, eye, foot, and kidney disease (Deshpande, Harris-Hayes & Schootman 2008, pp. 1258). The rate of these complications is very high among the indigenous population along the world (McDermott 2010, pp. 564). Kidney failure is the most devastating and result to high mortality rate among the indigenous people. The chances of kidney failure among the indigenous people suffering from diabetes are extremely high and are about ten times higher than in non-indigenous population suffering from diabetes. The high rate of diabetes among the indigenous people is because of genetics, poverty, and lack of education, as well as resources among the population and particularly in remote communities (Jablonski 2010, pp. 110). Kidney dialysis only effective way of treating kidney failure and is very expensive. The dialysis machines should be made available in different healthcare centers to ensure the patients well being is maintained. In addition, the indigenous people should be provided with free education in order to improve the literacy level among the indigenous population. Most people die because of impossible management of dialysis especially among the indigenous people living in remote areas. Another contemporary issue is the dietary factors. The indigenous people are found to have high body mass index, which result to overweight and obesity. They feed on a diet containing high level of saturated fats, low in fiber and lacking of fresh fruits, as well as vegetables (NDIC 2007, pp. 224). These foods are highly associated with obesity and consequently lead to type 2 diabetes. Most of Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander population feed on high energy foods and have no access to fresh fruits. In other places, where fruits and vegetables are available, these people cannot manage to pay for them due to their high cost. They feed on bush meat and the high fat content, which lead to overweight hence obesity and diabetes. Others such as Aboriginal and Torres Strait islanders in Australia have shifted from hunter-and gathering lifestyle because of westernization. They have adapted to the western lifestyle reducing the level of physical activities and increases smoking, as well as alcohol consumption (Huang 2009, pp. 319). These lead to overweight and obesity, which eventually result to diabetes and other heart related complications, while those involved in smoking have a high risk of suffering from diabetes than the non-smokers (Arsand 2008, pp. 117). Another issue is the socioeconomic status (Waitzfelder 2010, pp. 217). Research documents that, a large population of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander occupy the lowest socioeconomic status in terms of housing, and income. This conditions lead to higher psychological stress, which lead to a high proportion of the population to use alcohol and smoking. Smoking and consumption of alcohol lead to weight hence obesity, which result to diabetes (Li 2010, pp. 204). The basic principles of primary healthcare can be used to improve the healthcare services provided to the indigenous population in order to solve the contemporary issues to prevent diabetes. The principle of equality of primary healthcare should be used to provide dialysis machines to all hospitals both in remote and urban areas to ensure that the issue of kidney failure is dealt with. In addition, collaboration between different sectors should work toward financing the import and purchasing of the dialysis machines and catering for the cost of dialysis for the indigenous population. Community participation should play a vital role in educating the indigenous people on different skills of managing diabetes to prevent different complications such as kidney failure. Communities should participate in educating different indigenous people on healthy nutritional practices, which would prevent obesity hence diabetes (Brooking 2011, pp. 46). It should also be involved in implementing polices that will availability of fresh fruits and vegetables, as well as ensure that their prices are affordable to all people including the indigenous population. This will advocate for a balanced diet as an effective way of preventing obesity and diabetes. The government should promote health through providing accessible and affordable primary healthcare to the indigenous population living in remote areas (Meneghini 2008, pp. 127). Social acceptable technology should be used in providing effective information on the adverse effects of smoking and consumption of alcohol. In addition, diabetic people should be taught on different ways of monitoring their blood sugar by health screening. Hospitals should produce facts sheets to provide the required information on the significance of physical activities, which help in burning more calories to prevent obesity hence, diabetes (Forjuoh 2011, pp. 135). List of References Arsand E, Olsen OA, Varmedal R, Mortensen W, Hartvigsen G 2008, ‘A system for monitoring physical activity data among people with type 2 diabetes’, Studies In Health Technology And Informatics, Vol. 136, p.113-118. Viewed Ashcroft, RE 2007, Principles of health care ethics. Chichester, West Sussex, England, John Wiley & Sons. Viewed . Brooking, LA Williams, SM & Mann, JI 2011, “Effects of macronutrient composition of the diet on body fat in indigenous people at high risk of type 2 diabetes”, Diabetes Res Clin Pract, Vol. 96, No. 1, pp. 40-46. 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National Diabetes Statistics 2007. Available at: http://diabetes.niddk.nih.gov/DM/PUBS/statistics/ Waitzfelder, B et al 2010. Correlates of depression among people with diabetes: The Translating Research Into Action for Diabetes (TRIAD) study. Primary care diabetes, Vol. 4, No. 4, pp. 215-222. Available at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21636795 Top of Form Top of Form Bottom of Form Bottom of Form Read More