Response one PHB-06

The diabetes prevention program is great for individuals who are struggling with being overweight or obese and who are prediabetic. The program is designed to help prevent type 2 diabetes.

They will work with a trained professional for one year to better their lifestyle. They will focus on learning to eat a healthier diet and incorporate exercise into their daily routine. An alternative strategy I suggest for this program, is to shorten it by 6 months. The purpose of the program is not only to prevent diabetes in overweight adults, but to change their lifestyle. I think 6 months is an adequate time to do that.

I think one year may be too long and as a result, individuals will give up or not be completely devoted to the program. I also think that group sessions would increase the success rate in this program. I believe that exercising or eating healthy with another person, motivates that person even more. I think that group exercises and support groups could motivate people more. With any weight loss or dietary program, comes fear of losing participants. It will be difficult for people to understand that this program is not just a fad diet, but a new lifestyle. Not monitoring the success of the participants could lead to them not following the program. The participants should be checking in with their trained professional every week to talk about the progress they have made or to improve certain aspects of the program, such as diet.

I think a possible problem that I would encounter when implementing my suggestion would be the group sessions and activities. It certainly helps people to be exercising and eating healthy with others, but for some it may be uncomfortable. Seeing that the program includes group classes may steer people away from it. For the people who feel uncomfortable with exercising or talking in front of others, one on one sessions can be added. This will ensure the participant that their information is confidential and will only be displayed to the trained professional helping them.

Response two PHB-06

Monitoring the Progress of Program Implementation

COLLAPSE

The public health issue I have chosen for my project is diabetes and the program I have selected is the National Diabetes Educational Program (NDEP). This program is very detailed and covers a lot of grounds. Most importantly, it offers a lot of resources such as personnel, booklets, CDs, workshops, etc. However, an important component to the treatment and prevention of diabetes is diet. Research shows that by increasing the intake of vegetables and fruits, an individual decreases the risk of developing type 2 diabetes and it can help with the treatment of type 2 diabetes (Bryce et al., 2017).

In order to bring the program down to the local level, the alternative strategy I suggested is a partnership with local farmer's markets so that health care providers can "prescribe" fruits and vegetables. This "prescription" would be part of a program that offers a voucher specifically for fruits and vegetables whether it be for discounts or an allotted amount of free items per week. This would be of great help for patients from a lower socioeconomic status.

Since this alternative strategic approach could result in high costs, the "prescription program" would not be indefinite. The program would only be for a couple of weeks or months. Something that could go wrong, if not properly monitored, is that patients can become angered if they are not aware this is a short-term program. Another possible challenge is that after a few weeks/months of eating a well-balanced diet, the individuals may resort back to bad eating habits.

The action plan I would utilize to prevent these challenges is 1) clear guidelines as to the length of the program 2) a step by step handouts/classes/workshops on how to eat on a low budget. I feel it is necessary to be able to guide these patients on the transition and educate them on how to use any resources available to them so they can successfully achieve their health goals.

References:

Bryce, R., Guajardo, C., Ilarraza, D., Milgrom, N., Pike, D., Savoie, K., . . . Miller-Matero, L. R. (2017). Participation in a farmers' market fruit and vegetable prescription program at a federally qualified health center improves hemoglobin A1C in low income uncontrolled diabetics. Preventive Medicine Reports,7, 176-179.