Nursing Care Plan for Olivia, 72-Year-Old Widow With Diabetes and Obesity

The nursing diagnosis is a change in the current weight by modifying diet mon, storing weekly readings, and controlling blood sugar by adhering to diabetes drugs.

Defining characteristics include being poor, an older woman living alone with no social support system, currently obese, taking alcohol, and living a sedentary lifestyle, and her diet consists of mainly processed foods with no vegetables and fresh fruits.

The expected outcomes are Olivia’s health improvement through blood sugar control and weight reduction, the development of realistic goals to help enhance the quality of meals on less income, and the establishment of a simple, sensible exercise plan that does not consume time and is also achievable for an older adult; quit alcohol and initiating talks with her son to ensure he visits more often.

Interventions include teaching strategies on planning meals to have recommended healthy diets and referring Olivia to a diabetes educator or a dietitian for follow-up if resources allow; teaching Olivia simple and straightforward menus to prepare at home that include whole grains, vegetables, and fruits in plenty; developing and encouraging Olivia to take part in regular exercises like daily walking for at least 20 minutes; teaching her the importance of adhering to her diabetes medications to avoid related complications; linking her to telehealth services and ensuring she is connected to a mobile app (AM-WELL); teaching her other therapies like meditation and Tai chi that help in stress reduction and link Olivia with a nursing care home or establish a support system to help manage loneliness.

References

Ishak et al., (2017) Diabetes self-care and its associated factors among elderly: Diabetes in primary care. Journal of Taibah University Medical Sciences 12(6), 504-511. Retrieved from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1658361217300860