More than 25% of the world’s population aged 65 years and above has diabetes. Among the identified risk factors are excessive weight, age, and genetic influence. The elderly with diabetes are at risk of suffering cardiovascular and other acute complications. This calls for a well-formulated wellness plan that would help them live a longer, healthier, and comfortable life. This paper will describe a wellness plan of an elderly diabetic patient Christine Tuner and give a personal reflection after the care exercise.
Table 1: Patient details.
Level of independence: Mrs. Tuner is a retired teacher and solely depends on the little pension that she receives from her retirement that is barely enough to cater for all her basic needs especially her medical needs because she is diabetic. This transfers the burden to her 30year old daughter who is an Early Childhood Development teacher.
Use of assistive devices: Mrs. Tuner was previously involved in an accident from which she sustained a knee injury that forced her to walk with the aid of a Zimmer Frame commonly known as a Walker.
Home assessment: She lives in a two-bedroom brick house located in a middle-class suburb. She and her late husband had bought the house on a mortgage after their marriage back in 1979.
Drug dependency: She was a heavy smoker a habit she acquired in her early twenties. She later dropped the habit after she was diagnosed with type 2 Diabetes.
Past medical history: Mrs. Tuner had visited the dentist a couple of times. Her records show that she had two of her molars filled. She was also diagnosed with high blood pressure and is also allergic to pollen.
Hobbies: Mrs. Tuner spends most of her time knitting, reading books, and watching documentaries.
Medication: She is currently on Metformin Hydrochloride ER, Metolazone (zaroxolyn), and Temazepam (Restoril).
Diet: Her little income limits her choices of foodstuffs leaving her no option but to settle for cheap foods since she has to manage the small amount of money she receives from her pension hence she considers the price and not the nutrition value of the foodstuffs she buys, therefore, she mostly relies on fast food.
Identification of health risks: Her unmonitored diet is a major risk since an unhealthy diet is a major factor for a big range of chronic diseases including cardiovascular diseases, cancer, and other diseases linked to obesity.
Personal health can be improved through personal care regarding the choice of diet without necessarily involving a health expert. I formulated a teaching plan to identify her teaching needs and to help her increase her knowledge of health and health care. By that, she will be informed about her health care choice which will help her lead a healthy lifestyle. The following are the elements of the teaching plan.
Tuner started experiencing unquenched thirst at the age of 46 when she had delivered her lastborn. She had undergone CS and released after a week of admission. However, a few days after release from hospital, she started experiencing thirst that could not be quenched by refrigerated drinks. Christine also experienced eyesight problems and was previously provided with spectacles. On June 14th 1995, records show she was admitted for skin complications and was treated and released. Christine started gaining weight some time back but which she could not remember vividly.
- She suffers skin infection.
- Has dry, itchy skin.
- Experiences frequent urination.
- Overweight (her BMI was 31.25) but experiences consistent weight loss.
- She frequently experiences blurred vision.
- She frequently experiences fatigue even without doing any reasonable job.
From this diagnosis report, Christine suffers type 2 diabetes and needs urgent treatment.
I found Mrs. Tuner to be very oriented and cognitively perfect. Despite her old age, she shows no signs of confusion or dementia.this will help when I am implementing my plan since retaining information from her will not be a problem.
I will use her home as the optimum teaching and learning environment since it is quiet hence there will be minimal distractions and we can also look at things that we might have to change.
Her enthusiasm and willingness to partake in the exercise will be of great help in the learning process. She is very open to the project and very attentive to what I have to say therefore I am certain she will do just fine.
I will teach Mrs. Tuner 2 things:1)How diet is an important factor in dealing with obesity and control of hypertension among other chronic diseases brought by an unmonitored diet, 2)How to manage stress.
Table 2: Planning and interventions.
Table 3: Food log (Dunning, 2017 pp. 50-72).
While teaching her, she was optimistic and ready to incorporate the necessary changes needed to lead a healthier life. This really motivated me and made my work a whole lot easier. This encounter with her also helped me to reflect on myself and the choices that I make pertaining to what I eat and my entire lifestyle in general. I was a little nervous at the beginning of the exercise but now that the teaching has concluded, I feel quite confident about it and I cannot wait to teach again. The only challenge I faced during the exercise is that most of the time she has to prepare the meals by herself since her daughter goes to work during the day which forces her to opt for fast food which is against the food log I formulated for her
Diabetes is a chronic condition that has affected many people especially the old. Primary care providers need to look after them and guide them in taking their medications, looking into their diet which is a major factor in the battling of diabetes and obesity thus they should ensure that they feed healthy. They should also be assisted in their daily exercise routines down to checking their blood glucose level and accompanying them to their frequent check-ups.
Reference
Dunning, T. (2017). Care of older people with diabetes. Nursing Standard (2014+), 32(3), 50-72.