The importance of patient education to facilitate primary health care skills and knowledge in vulnerable populations has been broadly addressed in scholarly literature. Chin and Robins’ (2019) article under the title “Teaching patients with type 2 diabetes to self-administer insulin” published in the Australian Journal of General Practice, is one of the studies that provide patient teaching insights. The article’s authors combine instructional narration with a case study presentation to illustrate the importance and practical side of self-administering insulin for patients with type-2 diabetes, the severe medication-dependent condition.
In the analyzed work, the severity of type-2 diabetes is emphasized by referring to its progressive chronic nature, rising prevalence rate across the world, numerous comorbidities, and high mortality rate. The goal of the researches in the article is to “provide practical guidance to assist commencement of insulin” (Chin & Robins, 2019, p. 251). Firstly, the authors discuss the threats associated with delays in administering insulin by health care professionals when a patient has no access to care. Secondly, the importance of skills of self-administering as a means of overcoming the most frequently observed complications associated with diabetes is introduced. Thirdly, the choice of instrumentation for insulin administration and an instructor’s competence is addressed to inform patients about influential issues. Fourthly, insulin therapy’s implications on driving, possible complications associated with improper injections, and the effective techniques of insulin administering are informatively presented. Finally, a case study of a patient with type-2 diabetes educated to self-administer insulin is analyzed.
Thus, the summarized article uses instruction and case analysis to demonstrate the vital importance of insulin self-administering for patients with type-2 diabetes. The identified risks of delayed insulin intake and the benefits of patients’ ability to do this independently provide a basis for extensive dissemination of these skills. Overall, the study provides both theoretical and practical background for patients to initiate self-administering of insulin to prevent complications and manage their blood-glucose level.
Reference
Chin, G., & Robins, M. (2019). Teaching patients with type 2 diabetes to self-administer insulin. Australian Journal of General Practice, 48(5), 251-54.