Proper nutrition and diet is a major variable to consider in patient’s well-being. A myriad of health or medical conditions can be managed or prevented through dietary measures. This means that nutrition and hydration assessment should be part of the overall functional assessment of a patient.
JT is a 66-year old female with a history of diabetes. The IADL Scale was administered to this patient to assess her daily living functioning on a number of areas including diet and nutrition (Russell, 2015). According to the patient, she has of late been feeling weak, increased thirst and a regular urge to urinate. According to evidence, the symptoms experienced relate to diabetes-something that underscores the need for keen attention on the patient’s diet due to a huge possibility of increased levels of blood sugar (Solini & Grossman, 2016). When subjected to this scale, the patient scored poorly when it came to food preparation, since according to her, majority of her diet was fast-foods as she was unable to prepare the required diabetes diets. She says that she lives alone and it becomes pretty hard to stay disciplined on dietary issues. The effects of this pattern were felt on other areas of daily living since she was constantly loosing functionality on a number of daily living activities such as shopping or engaging in physical activities. A more objective assessment of the patient showed an elevation in blood sugar levels. Of course, diet plays a vital role in the management of diabetes and as such special dietary considerations are warranted in this patient scenario. The apparent elevation of blood sugar shows negligence in the dietary management of the condition. Additionally, considering that there is the impact of age on this issue, there is a possibility of impaired cognitive abilities which predisposed JT to memory loss and other cognitive challenges that may impair a strict adherence to diabetes diet.
Addressing the dietary/nutritional issue is of paramount importance in this patient scenario. Dietary management of diabetes is an inevitable approach when it comes to blood sugar control. This accentuates the need for patient education as a strategy to address this issue. Knowledge deficit, especially among elderly persons is a potential threat to optimal diabetes management. As such, bridging this knowledge gap is a worthy approach to consider. The patient would thus be educated on various diabetes-related dietary/nutrition issues. For instance, educating the patient on the best diabetes diets such as increasing fruit and vegetable intake can go a long way in the management of the condition. Equally, replacing refined cereals with whole grain is an important step towards combating this medical condition from a dietary approach.
References
Haas, L., Maryniuk, M., Beck, J., Cox, C. E., Duker, P., Edwards, L., & McLaughlin, S. (2013). National standards for diabetes self-management education and support. Diabetes care, 36(Supplement 1), S100-S108.
Russell, M. K. (2015). Functional assessment of nutrition status. Nutrition in Clinical Practice, 30(2), 211-218.
Solini, A., & Grossman, E. (2016). What Should Be the Target Blood Pressure in Elderly Patients With Diabetes?. Diabetes Care, 39(Supplement 2), S234-S243.
