Scenario: Throughout this course, you have focused on a specific health issue within a particular population. You researched position papers regarding this health concern, and you developed a policy pr

Letter to the Editor-Population Health Policy Advocacy

Current State of The Quality of Care of Type 1 Diabetic Patients.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, approximately 34 million Americans have diabetes. About 27 million people have been diagnosed, and 7 million remain undiagnosed (CDC, 2017). It is estimated that 88 million Americans have pre-diabetes. The report indicated that in 2018, the number of newly diagnosed diabetes cases was 1.5 million (CDC, 2017). The incidences were higher in persons aged 45 years and above. Out of these incidences, it is reported that type 1 diabetes mellitus accounts for about 5 to 10 percent of the cases.

Type 1 diabetic patients commonly develop microvascular and macrovascular complications. The complications can be attributed to poor management of the disease. These complications have been reported in 40% of diabetic patients. The absence of interprofessional collaboration and lack of patient compliance constitutes poor management (Szafran et al., 2019). In addition to the complications resulting from poor management, diabetic patients usually experience severe hypoglycemia. Severe hypoglycemia is caused by poor timing of meals before or after insulin administration. The poor timing of meals also causes postprandial hyperglycemia.

How the Current Quality of Care Necessitates Health Policy Development and Advocacy.

Currently, approximately 27 million Americans have diabetes mellitus. Roughly 40 percent of type 1 diabetic patients develop diabetic complications. The high number of diabetics and diabetic-related complications can be attributed to the poor quality of health care services.  A lack of interprofessional collaboration in managing diabetes mellitus characterizes poor quality of management. The absence of public awareness campaigns about diabetes mellitus also constitutes poor management. This has contributed significantly to the high number of diabetic patients in the United States of America because people lack knowledge of preventive measures.

Lack of interprofessional collaboration has led to microvascular and macrovascular complications reported in approximately 40 percent of type 1 diabetic patients. Patients fail to take their insulin doses as instructed, and their progress is not monitored. Diabetic complications are not identified in their initial stages due to poor follow-ups and patient education (Zie et al., 2020). Therefore, a lack of coordination among various health professionals in managing diabetes mellitus has led to increased diabetic complications and a poor quality of life for the patients. These health outcomes necessitate developing and advocating a health policy that will promote interprofessional collaboration and public awareness campaigns in managing diabetes mellitus.

How the Policy Will Improve the Quality of Care and Outcomes

The Health policy comprises two main strategies. The first strategy is interprofessional collaboration in the management of diabetes mellitus. The second strategy is public awareness campaigns. Collaborating with healthcare providers will ensure diabetic patients take their insulin as instructed. Each member of the collaborative team will enforce this.

Furthermore, interprofessional collaboration will ensure that all healthcare providers educate the patient on the importance of lifestyle changes, including dietary modifications and regular exercise (Szafran et al., 2019). Regular follow-ups by the team members will facilitate early diagnosis of complications and prompt initiation of treatment. Therefore, implementing interprofessional collaboration will improve the quality of services provided to patients and their quality of life.

A multidisciplinary committee will conduct public multidisciplinary. The committee comprises physicians, pharmacists, nurses, and dieticians. The campaigns target every member of society: diabetics, prediabetics, and healthy individuals. The community will be educated on the importance of lifestyle modification in preventing and managing diabetes mellitus. The importance of patient compliance in ensuring tight glycemic control will be communicated (Dugan et al., 2020). Nurses will demonstrate self-injection techniques. The importance of self-monitoring and regular screening forms part of the public awareness campaign.

The campaigns will be conducted regularly. The effectiveness of the public awareness campaigns will be evaluated using surveys and patient follow-ups. After rigorous campaigns, patients are expected to adhere to all instructions and control their sugar levels adequately (Dugan et al., 2020). Furthermore, the incidences of diabetic complications should decrease. Campaign feedback will be used to make necessary improvements in subsequent forums. Therefore,