Contemporary Health Conditions COVID 19 and Diabetes

INDIVIDUAL HEALTH PROMOTION

Individual Health Promotion

Part 1

Section 1

The health issues that were selected for the purpose of this discussion were type 2 diabetes and COVID-19. To a large extent, type 2 diabetes (which will herein be simply referred to as diabetes) was selected owing to the fact that it happens to be one of most prevalent diabetes kinds. It is important to note that in the past, multiple authors, including Jaacks, Siegel, Gujral, and Narayan (2016), have termed diabetes a 21st century epidemic. On the other hand, COVID-19 was selected because it is a current and evolving health issue that has affected millions of people from across the world. At present, multiple countries from across the world are still struggling to contain this particular epidemic.

Section 2

A wide range of risk factors have been associated with diabetes. Some of the risk factors for diabetes are inclusive of age, body weight, ethnicity, etc. Thus, those at greatest risk of the health condition are inclusive of persons considered obese, older persons, persons from a certain ethnical or racial background (i.e. Asian Americans, Hispanics, and Blacks), those from families where multiple other persons have been affected by diabetes, those who live a sedentary lifestyle, etc. (Titchener, 2020). On the other hand, when it comes to COVID-19, risk factors could be inclusive of crowding, age, preexisting medical conditions, gender, ethnicity/race, etc. (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - CDC, 2020). This means that those likely to contract the health condition are inclusive of older persons, persons with certain preexisting conditions (such as diabetes, hypertension, and HIV), those working or living in crowded places, etc.

Section 3

There are certain health protective barriers that could come in handy in efforts to prevent the diseases identified. In the case of diabetes, individual factors are inclusive of weight loss, embracing healthier eating habits, and increased engagement in physical activities (Titchener, 2020). Interpersonal factors could be inclusive of deliberate managerial decisions at the workplace to encourage employees to engage in physical activities (i.e. by favoring stairs as opposed to escalators), embracing healthier diets at the familial level, etc. When it comes to COVID-19, individual factors are inclusive of having a mask on when in crowded places, hand washing, embracing a healthy lifestyle so as to boost immunity levels, etc. Interpersonal factors could be inclusive of social distancing, working from home whenever necessary, etc.

Section 4

In as far as both health conditions are concerned, there are multiple resources that could come in handy. To begin with, in both instances, there are multiple peer-reviewed journal articles that one could consult to better understand certain factors relating to the disease. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website also happens to be an instrumental informational resource in both cases. With regard to diabetes, however, there are certain dedicated agencies and organizations that could be considered instrumental in efforts to reign in or manage the condition. One such agency or organization happens to be the American Diabetes Association.

Part 2

In essence, there are a wide range of barriers that could block efforts to prevent the health issues highlighted in part 1 above. To begin with, when it comes to diabetes, one of the barriers that ought to be highlighted in this case is literacy level. Low levels of literacy levels could limit an individual’s understanding, comprehension, as well as practice of interventions as well as strategies to minimize chances of contracting the disease. It would also be prudent to note that as Cavanaugh (2011) observes, past studies have established that “lower health literacy often play important roles in non-participation” in health programs meant to reduce the incidence of the disease (p. 192). In seeking to overcome this particular barrier, stakeholders could engage the services of trainers conversant with the dialect of the target populations. On the other hand, there are also a number of other socio-economic factors that could also serve as a barrier in efforts to embrace healthy behaviors deemed instrumental in preventing diabetes. One such factor is income level. To a large extent, persons who are economically disadvantaged may find it difficult to afford healthy meals or engage in meaningful exercises (i.e. by subscribing for a gym service). As a consequence, there is need for governments and concerned organizations to embrace a macro-approach in this case by, amongst other things, supporting certain income generating ventures among target populations.