Running head: HEALTH PROMOTION PROJECT 1

Health Promotion Project

Erin Paige Ricca

Bon Secours Memorial College of Nursing

Health Promotion Project

My client for this project was a sixty-five-year-old African American male. I have known

this client for the past 6 years, and knew immediately he would be open and willing to let me use

him for my project. This client has diabetes with associated hypertension. For this project I did a

teaching plan regarding proper diabetic diet for my client. Because my patient also has

hypertension, I tried to incorporate some heart healthy decisions in this teaching as well.

The overall Healthy People 2020 goal for older adults is to improve health function and

quality of life (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2014, p. 1). This teaching plan
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relates to Healthy People 2020, because a healthy diabetic diet has potential to improve health

function and in turn improve quality of life for my patient.

I chose the nursing diagnosis: Deficient knowledge regarding self-care/diet, related to

unfamiliarity with information sources, evidenced by request for information and verbalization

of the problem (Doenges, Moorhouse, & Murr, 2014). I decided to use this nursing diagnosis

because my client asked me about a proper diabetic diet and also asked for information or

resources regarding one. I included the self-care portion in the diagnosis as well because if my

client cannot make proper food choices then there is clearly a deficit in his ability to take care of

and maintain his disease.

I chose two short-term goals for my client. The first short-term goal I chose was: Patient

will verbalize understanding of diet importance prior to student leaving for the day. I chose this

goal and timeframe because I felt they were attainable for my client. The second short term goal

I chose was: Patient will verbalize proper food choices for diabetes prior to student leaving for

the day. I also chose this goal and timeframe because I felt it was easily attainable for my client.

Overall, my client is well educated about his diabetes and the need for a proper diet. I felt

that after I discussed food options and importance of diet adherence with my client that he would

easily be able to verbalize to me what I had taught him. Had my client not been so familiar and

educated on his diabetes, I would have expected him to be able to verbalize this information after

a second or third session.

As far as long-term goals for my client, I chose only one. The long-term goal I chose was:

Patient will initiate necessary lifestyle changes and participate in treatment regimen within two

weeks after teaching; which would be April 1, 2016. I felt this timeframe was a reasonable one

considering this is not a new diagnosis for my client, and he wanted to make the changes. Had
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this been a new diagnosis or if my client was not open to change, then I would have given a

longer timeframe for this long-term goal. The client is able to follow-up with me anytime, as he

works with my fianc and I frequent his place of employment.

My client for this project requested that I do a teaching plan on proper diabetic nutrition.

I was taken back when he requested to learn more on the topic, because since I have known him I

have always been under the assumption that he managed his diet and his diabetes quite well. On

a few rare occasions I have caught him splurging on sugar filled treats, but for the most part he

has always seemed to manage his diet well. With that said, this teaching plan was developed

mutually, with the client.

My client is very familiar with the computer and has unlimited Internet access at work

and at home. I decided to use my clients familiarity with the Internet to my advantage and took

him to a website in order to perform my patient teaching. I showed him the American Diabetes

Association website and also gave him a binder of printouts from the websites What Can I

Eat? section. The What Can I Eat? section of the website provides a lot of different

educational materials on maintaining a healthy diabetic diet (American Diabetes Association,

2016). I figured allowing my client to do something interactive would help him to better learn

based on the results from the Survey of Preferred Learning Methods; since he scored highest in

the kinesthetic method section.

According to the research article Self-efficacy, Self-management, and Glycemic Control

in Adults with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus a persons perception about how well they think they

can manage their diabetes is directly linked to the quality of their diabetes management. This

article encourages diabetic diet teaching and support in order to boost a patients view of their

ability to control their diabetes. When a diabetic patient has higher self-efficacy they are better
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able to manage their disease. The article suggests that strategies to improve and encourage self-

efficacy and self-management behaviors in diabetic patients are essential in diabetes education

programs (Al-Khawaldeh, Al-Hassan, & Froelicher, 2012). The teaching I provided aligns with

the findings in the research article because it enabled my client to gain confidence in utilizing

resources to help him eat a better diet.

My client was successful in meeting both short-term goals. In order to evaluate whether

or not my client achieved the short-term goals I set for him, I asked him to show me how to

access the American Diabetes Association website. My client was able to do this without

difficulty and showed me how he could use the website to help him make better choices for his

diabetes management. I also asked my client to tell me why a healthy diet is important for his

diabetes management; he was able to do this with ease as well. My client was able to both

verbalize and demonstrate the things I taught him; which proved to me that my teaching was

effective.

As far as follow-up on long-term goals, I will be stopping by my clients place of

employment to see him. My client and I discussed this method, and he thinks it would be

beneficial for me to stop in every now and then to see how he is doing with the new changes.

Following-up with my client regularly provides him with the opportunity to ask any questions he

may have and in turn I can see his progress and assist him along the way.

The goals I chose for my client were related to tertiary prevention. I consider the goals as

tertiary prevention, because my patient already has diabetes and hypertension, so the diet

changes will help him to better manage the conditions.

My client really took to the teaching I performed. As we navigated through the site, my

client stated, Oh, this is really neat. I never knew websites like this existed; Im just used to
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Toyota parts websites, this let me know he was grasping what I was showing him and found it

helpful. Some limitations to my teaching were that a computer and the Internet are not always

readily accessible in all situations. If my client goes to dinner or somewhere without Internet, he

cannot use the website to guide him in his meal choices.

I feel the teaching strategies could have been better if they were presented in a brochure

format. I think brochures condense information and get right to the point, making things easier to

read and access. Another idea for teaching about a diabetic diet would be to bring examples of

ok to eat and not ok to eat foods and teach the client why one is better over the other.

I enjoyed my role of nurse-teacher for this project. I think it was helpful to have a client I

was familiar with, and one that was open and willing to let me pester him for information. I

learned a lot from this project. I went into this project thinking I was going to do a teaching plan

around smoking cessation, because I figured my client knew enough about his diabetes and diet.

I was shocked when my client requested I do the teaching on a diabetic diet, that taught me not to

assume that just because someone has lived with a disease for so long, they know everything

about it and are able to manage it properly. Overall, I learned people can appear to have things

under control on the outside, but underneath they may actually be struggling with certain aspects

that one would not expect.

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References

Al-Khawaldeh, O. A., Al-Hassan, M. A., & Froelicher, E. S. (2012). Self-efficacy, self-

management, and glycemic control in adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Journal of

Diabetes and its Complications, 26(1), 10-16.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jdiacomp.2011.11.002

American Diabetes Association. (2016). What can I eat? Retrieved from

http://www.diabetes.org/food-and-fitness/food/what-can-i-eat/?loc=ff-slabnav

Doenges, M., Moorhouse, M., & Murr, A. (2014). Nursing care plans (9th ed.). Philadelphia, PA:

F.A. Davis Company.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2014). Older adults: Overview. Retrieved from

https://www.healthypeople.gov