Goal: To prevent and minimize health risks for primary school children with diabetes in the Playford Council Area.
Introduction
They primarily relate to the need to promote awareness of the target group regarding the methods of coping with the disease when studying. This measure is complemented by the initiative to increase the knowledge of employees concerning the available management options and the involvement of their parents in the process. In order to comply with the regulations regarding young people with diabetes and provide timely assistance to them, the participants should understand the symptoms of complications (“Managing diabetes at school,” 2021). Therefore, this paper aims to present the details of the program addressing the management of type 2 diabetes in school children, such as its evaluation, resources, indicators, data collection methods, stakeholders, and ethical issues.
Program Plan Evaluation
The evaluation of the effectiveness of the measures presented above will be conducted right after their implementation. The strategies adopted for the specified objectives include advertising the program in local schools and their newsletters, informing their employees on the condition, training for its proper management, and additional classes for students. They are followed by meetings with their parents, who are supposed to assist the facilities in reminding their children of general rules of addressing the complications once any alarming symptoms emerge. These objectives and strategies correspond to the basic principles of SMART processes. More specifically, they present precise interventions measured by surveys, are aligned with healthcare policies, realistic in implementation, relevant with regard to the problem, and have concrete time frames (Bjerke & Renger, 2017). In turn, conducting and evaluating the program will be the sole responsibility of a group of volunteers among university students willing to cooperate with educational facilities and hospitals to improve population health. Their participation will allow establishing the connection between different actors in the matter and thereby change the situation for the better.
Resource Evaluation
The success of the proposed plan for managing type 2 diabetes in primary school children in the Playford Council Area is significantly conditional upon the assessment of available resources for its implementation and evaluation. In order to ensure their efficiency, the involvement of personnel and funding of the project is needed (Central Sydney Area Health Service, 1994). The former implies all of the people working for local schools and healthcare facilities, which will be willing to join the initiative. They include school teachers, healthcare practitioners working for both educational and medical organizations, which participate in the program, and volunteers from universities. In turn, funding does not present a threat to performing the plan since it will be minimal. The only financial resources needed for this purpose are intended for an advertising campaign attracting volunteers from universities for the project and the involvement of representatives of hospitals in the area who can educate people on type 2 diabetes. They can be received from the government’s funds after applying for assistance in this matter.
Suitability of Indicators and Data Collection and Evaluation Methods
The indicators corresponding to the three objectives with their strategies are aligned with the expected outcomes of the program. They are the number of schools in which the information is presented, classes aimed at educating children, teachers, and other school employees, and parents attending the meetings. These measurements will be complemented by the reported level of satisfaction with the interventions demonstrated by the participants afterward. Since they reflect all the aspects of the prospective work, they can be deemed suitable for the program and its stages. As for data collection and evaluation methods, they also correspond to the objectives and their realization because they comply with the recommendations of scholars to use the tools, which were successful for similar projects in the past (Central Sydney Area Health Service, 1994). In previous studies, researchers adopted interviews and surveys in order to examine diabetes in students (Bani Salameh et al., 2017). Therefore, the same instruments will be appropriate for the present initiative on managing the condition in school children in the context of educational facilities as well.
Appropriateness of Stakeholders Involvement
Another aspect, which should be considered when elaborating and implementing the proposed projects is the participation of principal stakeholders in the matter. Their importance is defined by the fact that any alliances with individuals and organizations contribute to the precision of the outcome of the performed tasks (“Planning and evaluation wizard (PEW),” n.d.). First, they are the hospitals since their main interest is in the health of the population, and they are familiar with different methods of managing type 2 diabetes among children (Magliano et al., 2020). Their inclusion in the activity of educational facilities is the main factor adding to the increase in awareness of people about approaches to cope with the disease and, therefore, is appropriate.
Second, the involvement of teachers and other school employees in the process is a guarantee of their confidence in their ability to assist children and thereby reduce their level of stress when studying. Consequently, it should not be overlooked when working on the promotion of health among elementary school students. Finally, the inclusion of their parents will be beneficial for making a long-term impact on their children’s knowledge of measures, which should be taken in the case of emergency. The involvement of the identified stakeholders in the project will be performed by volunteers who will inform them about the time of meetings and classes and coordinate their actions.
Potential Ethical Issues and Challenges
Another aspect to consider when conducting the project is the potential ethical issues and other challenges, which can emerge in the process. They are primarily connected to the need to obtain parents’ informed consent regarding the information presented to their children, as it is done in other similar studies (Magliano et al., 2020). This task can be addressed by assigning volunteers to distribute the documents for elementary school children’s families and collect them once they are signed. In addition, the possible complication can derive from the hypothetical unwillingness of parents to attend meetings due to the lack of time or understanding of their importance. Nevertheless, it can also be managed by volunteers who will communicate with them to explain the practical benefits of the initiative for the health of their children.
Conclusion
To summarize, the proposed plan on the management of type 2 diabetes in elementary school children in the Playford Council Area is deemed to be efficient as it corresponds to the needs of the participants. It will help evaluate the awareness of students and their parents alongside the employees of educational facilities regarding the actions in the case of emergency. In turn, the inclusion of healthcare workers will ensure the correspondence of interventions to the state programs in this regard. The selection of applicable data collection and evaluation methods, resources, funding source, indicators, and encouraging stakeholders to actively engage in the project will contribute to the success of the initiative. As for possible challenges, they can be efficiently resolved by volunteers by obtaining informed consent and presenting practical benefits to families.
References
Bani Salameh, A., Al‐sheyab, N., El‐hneiti, M., Shaheen, A., Williams, L. M., & Gallagher, R. (2017). Effectiveness of a 12‐week school‐based educational preventive programme on weight and fasting blood glucose in “at‐risk” adolescents of type 2 diabetes mellitus: Randomized controlled trial. International Journal of Nursing Practice, 23(3), e12528.
Bjerke, M. B., & Renger, R. (2017). Being smart about writing SMART objectives. Evaluation and Program Planning, 61, 125-127.
Central Sydney Area Health Service. (1994). Program management guidelines for health promotion.
Magliano, D. J., Sacre, J. W., Harding, J. L., Gregg, E. W., Zimmet, P. Z., & Shaw, J. E. (2020). Young-onset type 2 diabetes mellitus—Implications for morbidity and mortality. Nature Reviews Endocrinology, 16(6), 321-331.
Managing diabetes at school. (2021). Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Planning and evaluation wizard (PEW). (n.d.). Flinders University. Web.