Analysis of “Access to Quality Diabetes Education Act” using PICOT Framework

Analysis of “Access to Quality Diabetes Education Act” using PICOT Framework

Diabetes is a lifestyle disease that affects how the body handles glucose levels in the blood. It is one of the primary health concerns in the United States. According to the CDC (2020), approximately 8.3 per cent of the U.S. population has diabetes, which is equivalent to about 26 million Americans. It is the seventh leading cause of death in the United States and often leads to costly health complications, including stroke, nervous system damage, kidney disease, blindness, and heart disease. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2020), in 2007, the United States recorded approximately $116 billion in medical costs associated with diabetes and indirect costs (premature mortality, work loss, disability) were about $58 billion. The government is continuously exploring new policy options that can effectively deal with this growing problem. The paper will examine five concepts that make up the PICOT research statement. The concepts are population, intervention, comparison, outcome and time.

Concerning the growing prevalence of diabetes and its health and economic impact in America, many state legislatures in the United States have proposed numerous diabetes-related legislation since 2007. The proposed legislation has mainly focused on areas of public health education, and research, and diabetes prevention and management. Ed Whitfield introduced one policy step to reduce the burden of diabetes in the country. He introduced the bill “Access to Quality Diabetes Education Act” in the U.S. House of Representatives in 2015 (NCBD, 2020). According to NCBD (2015), the objective of the bill is to improve access to diabetes self-management training, also known as diabetes training or diabetes self-management education. If passed, this bill will authorize certified diabetes educators to provide diabetes self-management training services to diabetes patients, their families, and the community at large.

PICOT framework can be used to provide a comprehensive analysis to determine the nature of diabetes and possible policy options that can be used to effectively deal with the growing problem of the disease on the country’s economy as well as its population.

Population

Diabetes is highly prevalent in people who are above 45 years, physically inactive, overweight or obese, have a family history of diabetes, or have specific health problems like high blood pressure. According to the American Diabetes Association (2020), more than 36.2 million Americans are living with diabetes. Approximately 0.25 per cent or 210,000 of this population is below the age of 20 years. Diabetes is more prevalent among Asian Americans, Latino, American Indians, African Americans, or Pacific Islanders. A research carried out by the American Diabetes Association (2020), indicated that 14.7% of the total diabetes patients are of American Indians/Alaskan Native, 12.5% are Hispanics, 11.7% are non-Hispanic blacks, 9.2% are Asian Americans, and 7.5% of non-Hispanic whites.

Diabetes if not managed properly can lead to health problems like kidney disease, foot problems, nerve damage, stroke, eye disease, sexual and bladder problems, heart disease, gum disease, or even death. According to the American Diabetes Association (2020), as of 2017, diabetes was the seventh leading cause of deaths in the United States based on the 270,702 death certificates that indicated diabetes as the underlying cause of death. Based on the statistics, the primary objective of this policy “Access to Quality Diabetes Education Act,” is to reach out to these people living with diabetes, especially those that are highly at risk of contracting the disease like the Asian Americans, Latino, American Indians, African American, or Pacific Islanders.  Besides, the policy is also tailored to meet the needs of healthcare providers as well as the general public in controlling the impact and high prevalence of the disease.

Intervention

The current intervention programs available for people with diabetes as well as the general public are the self-management educations or services that help in the prevention and control of the high prevalence of diabetes.  For instance, disease management programs are recommended to improve diabetes care through their focus on self-care behaviours, such as being active, healthy eating, and constant monitoring of blood sugar levels. The program also tracks and monitor diabetes patients constantly to keep track of their health condition in order to prevent complications and development of other serious health problems like cardiovascular disease.  Also, data collected through the monitoring process can be used by decision-makers in both the private and public sector to make decisions about the best intervention strategies for their communities.

The proposed policy “Access to Quality Diabetes Education Act,” also touches on the intervention aspect of diabetes prevention and control in the United States. The policy proposes to improve educational programs to health care providers, enhance telehealth services, and direct the Director of the Agency for Health Care Research to come up with recommendations on how to provide adequate education programs to health care providers (NCBD, 2020). To live successfully with diabetes or persons living with diabetes require complex lifestyle changes, monitoring, and medication. All these aspects of disease control cannot be effectively implemented without a comprehensive understanding of the disease, including its symptoms, health impact, and effects while on medication. As a result, this policy offers a comprehensive intervention plan that the country can use in fighting diabetes.

Comparison

The comparison alternative for treatment and management of diabetes prevalence in the United States is the absence of self-management education programs and policies to help in promoting intervention programs. When there are no systems in place to educate the public on issues related to diabetes preventions and management the country is likely to have a significant surge in not only the number of new cases of diabetes but also a significant increase in the number of deaths resulting from diabetes-related complication. Besides, the lack of monitoring process may also pose a challenge in developing intervention strategies by policymakers in both the private and public sector due to the lack of reliable data.

Outcome

If the policy “Access to Quality Diabetes Education Act” is enacted the overall health of patients with diabetes will significantly improve, and the prevalence of diabetes will reduce. Besides, the proposed policy will direct the Controller General to determine barriers that beneficiaries of Medicare experience concerning accessing self-management training services under the Medicare program. When these barriers are identified and effectively managed, the beneficiaries of Medicare will be able to effectively receive the self-management training services like health education and food therapy that they can implement to control the problems associated with diabetes.

Time

When the proposed bill “Access to Quality Diabetes Education Act” is passed into a bill, there is a guarantee that patients will live a healthy and productive life for the rest of their lives. Also, the community will have long-lasting access to educational materials and knowledge, such as the benefits of a healthy diet that can help reduce the prevalence of diabetes in the United States.

References

NCBD. (2020). National Certification Board for Diabetes Educators. https://www.ncbde.org/assets/1/7/Statement_on_114thCongressFedLegislationFinal_wUpdate_060215.pdf

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2020). National Diabetes Statistics Report, 2020. Atlanta: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S. Dept of Health and Human Services.

American Diabetes Association. (2020). Statistics about diabetes. ADA. https://www.diabetes.org/resources/statistics/statistics-about-diabetes