NURS 5050 Policy and Advocacy For Improving Population Health

1. Describe your selected population health issue and the population affected by this issue.

Answers:

Introduction

Diabetes is described by Redondo et al., (2018) as one of the rapidest growing chronic ailments across the globe. According to Arnold et al., (2016), the disease affects over 420 million individuals worldwide.Tancredi et al., (2015) attribute the increasing burden of this condition to the fact that most of the affected persons go undiagnosed and seek remedies when it is very late. Being the 7^th leading cause of fatality across the globe, Mishra et al., (2015)reveal that diabetes is highly capable of affecting individuals drawn from all racial, cultural and social boundaries.According to DuBose et al., (2015), over 250,000 residents of Kansas (translating to 12% of the city’s population) are diabetic. The researchers further reveal that diabetes costs the administration of Kansas City over $2.4 billion on an annual basis. The current study seeks to develop a population health advocacy campaign targeting diabetics residing in Kansas City.

Population Description

Diabetes imposes detrimental effects on the populace of Kansas City.  According to Liu et al., (2018), over 0.28 million residents of Kansas City or 12% of the adult population in Kansas and 0.69 million or 13% of the adult population in Missouri are infected with diabetes. According to DuBose et al., (2015), Missouri and Kansas spend over 2.4 and 6.7 billion U.S dollars on this killer disease every year. Further, Redondo et al., (2018) demystify that the condition lowers the life expectancy of the residents of Kansas City by about 15 years and increases the dangers of contracting other associated conditions such as amputations of the lower limb, kidney failures and adult- onset blindness by about 3 times. 

Specific Objectives for the Kansas City Diabetes Policy

The Kansas City Diabetes Policy shall be implemented with the aim of meeting the following objectives:

• To increase the levels of awareness of the challenges and economic burden associated with diabetes in Kansas City.
• To educate the populace of Kansas City on the importance of undertaking early diagnostic tests as a way of minimizing the deaths associated with diabetes.

Diabetes Advocacy Campaigns in Kansas City

The Strikeout Diabetes campaign

The Strikeout Diabetes fundraising campaign is a fundraising initiative targeting diabetic populations residing in Kansas City. The Strikeout Diabetes fundraising campaign adopts multiple social media platforms and field games such as football with the aim of fostering the issues of diabetes awareness. The subscribers to this venture volunteer to make use of sporting events to foster proper education of the residents of Kansas City on the dangers of diabetes, the importance of undertaking early prevention initiatives and the economic burden of this disease. Further, the campaign works in collaboration with other organizations such as JDRF Kansas City, Royals Charities and Sun Life Financial to support initiatives such as the Bag of Hope Program.  The Bag of Hope program was developed by JDRF to help vulnerable diabetics in Kansas City with essential personal supplies and educational materials.

The Take It Back Prediabetes Awareness Campaign

Take It Back Prediabetes Awareness Campaign is an anti-diabetes movement operating in Missouri with the aim of encouraging residents to enroll in CDC recommended diabetes prevention ventures. The campaign is funded by the CDC’s National Diabetes Prevention Program and operates in coordination with the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services.

Attributes of Effectiveness

Both the Take It Back Prediabetes Awareness Campaign and the Strikeout Diabetes campaign have been very effective in ensuring proper attainment of their operational goals and objectives. The increasing levels of effectiveness of these two movements can be attributed to their extensive social reach as well as the institutional support they get from stakeholders. For instance, the Take It Back Prediabetes Awareness Campaignboasts of its effective fiscal support from financially stable organizations such as CDC. On the other hand, the Strikeout Diabetes campaign enjoys a greater presence in social media platforms such as Facebook and Tweeter which play a significant role in mobilizing members and soliciting for financial support.

Conclusion

In conclusion, diabetes is one of the critical health hazards affecting the residents of Kansas City.The study sought to develop a population health advocacy campaign targeting diabetics residing in Kansas City. Over 250,000 residents of Kansas or12% of the city’s population are diabetic. The fact that Missouri and Kansas spend over 2.4 and 6.7 billion U.S dollars on this killer disease every year calls for inclusion of a proper policy framework aimed at reducing the economic burden associated with this condition. The Take It Back Pre diabetes Awareness Campaign and the Strikeout Diabetes campaign are considered as the majorinitiatives adopted to limit the rapid growth of the population affected with diabetes in Kansas City. 

References

Arnold, S. V., Inzucchi, S. E., McGuire, D. K., Mehta, S. N., Goyal, A., Sperling, L. S., ...&Hammar, N. (2016). Evaluating the quality of comprehensive cardiometabolic care for patients with type 2 diabetes in the US: the Diabetes Collaborative Registry.Diabetes Care, 39(7), e99-e101.

DuBose, S. N., Hermann, J. M., Tamborlane, W. V., Beck, R. W., Dost, A., DiMeglio, L. A., ...&Willi, S. (2015). Obesity in youth with type 1 diabetes in Germany, Austria, and the United States.The Journal of pediatrics, 167(3), 627-632.

Liu, Y., Yu, Y., Nickel, J. C., Iwasaki, L. R., Duan, P., Simmer?Beck, M., & Brown, L. (2018).Gender differences in the association of periodontitis and type 2 diabetes.International dental journal.

Mishra, R. K., Yang, W., Roy, J., Anderson, A. H., Bansal, N., Chen, J., ... &Kusek, J. W. (2015). Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire score is associated with incident heart failure hospitalization in patients with chronic kidney disease without previously diagnosed heart failure: chronic renal insufficiency cohort study. Circulation: Heart Failure, 8(4), 702-708.

Redondo, M. J., Libman, I., Cheng, P., Kollman, C., Tosur, M., Gal, R. L., ...& Clements, M. (2018). Response to Comment on Redondo et al. Racial/Ethnic Minority Youth With Recent-Onset Type 1 Diabetes Have Poor Prognostic Factors. Diabetes Care 2018; 41: 1017–1024. Diabetes care, 41(7), e125-e126.

Tancredi, M., Rosengren, A., Svensson, A. M., Kosiborod, M., Pivodic, A., Gudbjörnsdottir, S., ...& Lind, M. (2015). Excess mortality among persons with type 2 diabetes.New England Journal of Medicine, 373(18), 1720-1732.