NR 449 Week 6 ATI #3: Skills Module – Nutrition, Feeding, and Eating.
Interventions to Improve Nutritional Status:
The Prevention & Management of
... [Show More] Chronic Diseases in Adults
Chamberlain College
NR449 Evidence Based Practice
The Prevention & Management of Chronic Diseases in Adults
Introduction
Health promotion & disease prevention are a priority concern when providing care for the adult population to help control the prevalence of chronic illness & to aid in the management of symptoms. While this approach does not replace the medical care of illness, this attitude has the potential to reduce the incidence of chronic disease within our growing population of aging adults.
Article Search
To locate relevant evidence for this topic, it is important to identify recently published articles with information that support current health promotion initiatives. It was imperative to identify scholarly academic sources with publications from within the past 10 years to ensure that the information is up-to-date & applicable to the focus of this paper. I used the search terms “health promotion”, “disease prevention”, & “management of chronic disease” in the PubMed search database & within the NCBI search database. I was able to locate the articles “Disease Prevention & Health Promotion: How Integrative Medicine Fits, 2015” & “Characteristics of Hospital Stays Involving Malnutrition, 2016” using this method to find information to support the claim between health promotion & disease prevention.
Article Findings
The findings in these articles emphasize the importance of implementing lifestyle changes & healthful behaviors in order for individuals to maintain their health status. According to the studies assessment findings of the National Health Interview Survey, adult respondents completed a questionnaire regarding their different measures of health & nutritional status, & the variable factors that increase the chances of developing cardiovascular disease, stroke, foods associated with hypertension, & diseases associated with smoking cigarettes & alcohol consumption. 40,000 household mail-in interviews were received, which equated to a total of 110,000 individuals. Of the participants surveyed, 7,500 to 8,500 were between the ages of 25 & 74, & 4,800 to 5,400 were age 75 & older. The findings in this study indicated that 37 percent of the participants had hypertension, & 28 percent had heart disease (Ali & Katz, 2015). This particular method was a longitudinal study that utilized quantitative convenient sampling. This article was chosen because by using this longitudinal method, it is possible to identify health trends throughout the population during different stages of morbidity & mortality.
Evidence for Practice
Interventions for health promotion vary across the lifespan & the risk for diseases change with increased age. In addition to increased age, chronic conditions & polypharmacy may be a significant factor that affects an individual’s nutritional status (Weiss, Fingar, Barrett, Elixhauser, Steiner, Guenter, & Brawn, 2013). In addition to the recommendation of yearly health screenings to encourage early detection of diseases, in order to encourage health promotion amongst the population, every five years the Federal government updates its guidelines to improve adherence to the recommendations for nutritional intake. These interventions include following a healthy eating pattern across the lifespan, limit the calories consumed from sugar, saturated fat, & sodium, & to engage in 30 minutes of physical activity at least three times per week (USDHHS & USDA, 2015). By making daily improvements to lifestyle choices, individuals may decrease the likelihood of chronic diseases associated with obesity & a sedentary lifestyle. It is important to continue to analyze these preventative measures & make this information accessible to the public in order for these interventions to ensure their efficacy.
Sharing of Evidence
The evidence found in these articles would be beneficial to share with other healthcare professionals, colleagues, patients, & family members. With consideration to the specific population that we are treating, is important to provide this information to our patients to encourage them to make choices that will have long-term beneficial effects on their health status. It is important to provide patients with written information at their level of comprehension without medical knowledge. It is important to identify risk factors & co-morbidities among our clients during assessment & identify their personal preferences when it comes to dietary choices & physical activity.
Conclusion
Based on the findings in this research, it can be concluded that the most predominant factor that limits health outcomes is not only the knowledge of preventative health measures & the efficacy of interventions, but also on the willingness of patients to modify their lifestyle. It is important to continue to research interventions that aid in the health promotion of individuals with chronic health conditions.
References
Ali, A., & Katz, D. L. (2015). Disease Prevention & Health Promotion: How Integrative Medicine Fits. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 49(5 0 3), S230–S240. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2015.07.019
U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (USDHHS) & U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). 2015–2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. 8th Edition. December 2015. Available at http://health.gov/dietaryguidelines/2015/guidelines/.
Weiss A, Fingar K, Barrett M, Elixhauser A, Steiner C, Guenter P, Hise Brawn M, Characteristics of Hospital Stays Involving Malnutrition, 2013, Statistical Brief #210, Agency for Healthcare Research & Quality, 2016. [Show Less]