Poster Presentation
Thursday, July 12, 2007
9:30 AM - 10:15 AM
Thursday, July 12, 2007
3:15 PM - 4:00 PM
Quantitative Measurement of Perceptions of Self-Care Management Among Rural, Older Diabetics
Sharon George, PhD, MN, RN, College of Nursing, University of Alabama in Huntsville, Huntsville, AL, USA
| Learning Objective #1: Propose diabetes self-management for older diabetics with consideration of their functional abilities and knowledge. |
| Learning Objective #2: Evaluate the effectiveness of diabetes self-managment in older persons, based on self-report of adherence to treatment recommendations. |
Purpose:
The purpose of this quantitative research was to investigate the perceptions of self-care among rural, 65 and older, diabetics and determine what is unique about this population compared to other adult diabetics.
Assessing clients’ perceptions of the degree to which they adhere to treatment recommendations for diabetes self-care provides new knowledge for development of diabetic protocols and a guide to innovative nursing interventions that focus on this growing and vulnerable population.
The sixty five year and older persons are disproportionately affected by diabetes and are more likely to have co-morbidities, diabetic complications, and disabilities than younger adult diabetics. Supported by abundant empirical evidence are the findings that effective self-management reduces the occurrence of long-term complications. Guidelines for diabetes management and treatment developed by the American Diabetes Association are not specifically targeted for the 65 and older population. They have yet to be identified as a unique group in need of a different protocol from the usual guidelines established for all adult diabetics.
Past emphasis in diabetes self-management has focused on involving individuals in their own care, teaching about the disease, and the necessary skills to improve outcomes. Yet, this approach has not been overwhelmingly successful in prevention of complications or adherence. It is imperative to identify factors to self-management that include the clients’ perceptions of adherence to their treatment.
Method:
The Self-Care Inventory (SCI), a 14-item self-report measure developed by LaGreca and colleagues in 1988 will be administered to an identified group of clients. This tool was specifically designed for the older population to assess and evaluate their perceptions of how well they adhered to treatment recommendations. The SCI is intended to be used to measure clients perceptions of their adherence as opposed to other tools that measure frequency of specific adherence behaviors.