The prevalence of onset type-II diabetes remains the major health concern in the Eatonville population. The rate of the disease and its diagnosis remains at approximately 24.4 percent. Overall, this level of morbidity in a population is particularly high for disease and can be technically considered an epidemic. Towns around Eatonville have diabetes prevalence under 9%, while Central Florida consistently maintains a 12 percent rate of the disease (Healthy Central Florida, 2013).
Therefore, the Eatonville statistics are disproportionate in comparison to the rest of the state and national data. This report will seek to compare the epidemiology of diabetes and determine risk factors, which will be used to compare organizational strategies for disease prevention in order to select the most practical one for Eatonville.
Epidemiological Concepts
The prevalence of diabetes in sample groups for US adults is consistently between 12% and 14%. Minority populations, such as non-Hispanic blacks, non-Hispanic Asians, and Hispanic populations, have the highest rates of morbidity as well as experience a significant rate of not having an established diagnosis. Over the past two decades, the total number of cases increased for ages 20 and older. All age groups and both sexes experienced growth of 2-4 percentage points. Diabetes prevalence is approximately 20 percent for adults labeled as obese based on body mass index (BMI) categories (Menke, Casagrande, Geiss, & Cowie, 2015).
Over the decades, men have experienced an increase in the prevalence of diabetes more than women. BMI is considered to be a contributing factor to growing morbidity in the population, responsible for more than half of diagnoses. However, it was found that for a substantial portion of the diagnoses, there was no underlined cause (Menke, Rust, Fradkin, Cheng, & Cowie, 2014).
The studies used to collect epidemiological data were similar in design and concept. Both collected information to determine the extent of diabetes prevalence in the United States over the past several decades in order to determine any causation factors to the increased morbidity in the population, particularly changes in demographics. The method and design were to use cross-sectional survey data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) over the years.
The sample size was just under 24,000 patients of the non-institutionalized civilian population, specifically for the period from 1988. Measurements were collected via self-reported diagnosis or a fasting plasma glucose level. Some limitations of the study include the fact that diagnostic criteria for diabetes have evolved through time; therefore, it is possible that the number of undiagnosed patients was not accurate. Furthermore, NHANES data does not allow for an evaluation of the effect of poverty levels or lifestyle on diabetes prevalence (Menke et al., 2015).
Health Promotion
A critical factor established by national studies that a large portion of diagnoses has no clear origin is important for Eatonville. A similar trend is appearing that makes it unclear why Eatonville has such disproportionate rates of the disease to local and national statistics. It may be a combination of factors affecting community health since the morbidity of other conditions such as high blood pressure is significantly increased as well.
The majority of Eatonville’s population consists of minorities and African-Americans, which have a much higher risk. Lifestyle factors such as activity levels are almost 10 percent lower than other nearby localities, while more people reported extreme levels of stress. Meanwhile, socioeconomic factors play a role as 17.2% of households reported poor nutrition due to financial reasons, which are 10% higher than the area average (Healthy Central Florida, 2013). These realities were contributing factors to the prevalence of the disease and failed attempts at interventions in Eatonville. While medical intervention is necessary, lifestyle changes are a critical step to diabetes prevention.
Interventions that target racial/ethnic minorities need to be multi-factored in approach from perspectives of cultural differences, socioeconomic inequalities, and healthcare access. Initiatives that specifically tailored to the community showed success in reducing morbidity and the impact on the population through improved management of the disease and treatment outcomes. The Affordable Care Act has led to organizations taking a more population-focused approach to any initiatives. A critical concept to be utilized is patient education and linkage to the community.
Education is integrated into both clinical and social means to purport a healthy lifestyle. Community health workers are advocates within the population that can help lead by example and support. Another concept is to bridge the gap between healthcare and the population. This offers better access to physicians and ensures timely diagnosis and medical treatment. Furthermore, the quality of health systems can be improved significantly by providing safety-net clinics for minorities and offer services that educate patients on self-management of diabetes (Peek, Ferguson, Bergeron, Maltby, & Marshall, 2014).
The best approach for an organization in Eatonville is to focus on bridging the gap between the population and access to healthcare, as well as ensuring a rise in quality. The low socioeconomic status of a significant portion of the minority population has led to a pattern of a lack of participation in healthcare. In turn, this leads to a low rate of diagnosis, poor disease management, and a lack of health education. It can be done through the establishment of diabetes-specific centers similar to the one in Eatonville. Furthermore, healthcare access can be offered through public facilities such as schools and community centers. If possible, subsidies should be offered on any diabetes-related intervention.
Conclusion
Eatonville continues to struggle with diabetes as a population health concern. The prevalence of the disease is 24%, which is considerably higher than in regional or national averages. It is critical to examine epidemiological factors to the morbidity of the population and utilize them to design an organizational intervention that can strategically aid in disease prevention and management.
References
Healthy Central Florida. (2013). The state of our health: Executive Summary. Web.
Menke, A., Rust, K. F., Fradkin, J., Cheng, Y. J. & Cowie, C. (2014). Associations between trends in race/ethnicity, aging, and body mass index with diabetes prevalence in the United States: A series of cross-sectional studies. Annals of Internal Medicine, 161(5), 328-335. Web.
Menke, A., Casagrande, S., Geiss, L. & Cowie, C. (2015). Prevalence of and trends in diabetes among adults in the United States, 1988-2012. JAMA, 314(10), 1021-1029. Web.
Peek, M. E., Ferguson, M., Bergeron, N., Maltby, D., & Marshall, C. H. (2014). Integrated community-healthcare diabetes interventions to reduce disparities. Current Diabetes Reports, 14(467), 1021-1029. Web.