Understanding the Influence of Diabetes Management Practices on Co-Morbidity Development

Introduction

As the population of people suffering from diabetes type 2 increases in Australia (Shaw and Tanamas 2012) and around the world (WHO 2016) due to factors that could be prevented, the need for proper management of the pandemic cannot be overstated. Effective management is therefore expected to rely heavily on the understanding and motivation of patients (Albright et al. 2001) who can better their quality of life through conscious self-management effort. To this end, exercising and diet management plans have featured prominently among the self-care options that contribute significantly to wellness (WHO 2016, Brown 1999). Considering the chronic nature of diabetes type 2 and the overall impact on the quality of life, healthcare resources, and the entire economy, researchers have worked hard to promote self-care strategies as possible options for bolstering the wellness of the patients. Hence, continuous education of the patients has been explored as a potential option for encouraging the sufferers to adhere to the best management practices (ADA 1989). This will enable them to know how several factors of self-management such as social context, which can come in the form of supports from family and friends, patient-doctor relationship, psychological stress, etc. play into an effective outcome (Albright et al. 2001).

It has been shown that the management of diabetes type 2 can be done effectively when patients contribute through exercising and diet management (Horton 1988, Bastiaens et al. 2009) following self-motivation inspired by the knowledge of the disease (Gould et al. 2019). Norris et al. (2001) also affirmed that self-management of diabetes type 2 holds numerous benefits in the short-term but the benefits can be sustained in the long-term if the patients are motivated and resilient and have other support networks (Powers et al. 2017). The quality of life outcome of the patients can be further enhanced through early intervention (Nolan et al. 2011). Therefore, the education of patients could be vital for the reversal of overnutrition and minimization of the adipose tissue defects when done at the early stages of diabetes type 2 diagnosis. Despite the difficulties associated with this change of lifestyle for the patients, adherence to the self-management strategies have been shown to be one of the most effective ways of managing diabetes type 2 (Nathan 2002).