Diabetes is a chronic condition that requires heavy investment on refined medical and self-care. Management the condition by adopting preemptive measures and education is also surrounded by major challenges towards alleviation of the conditions related to diabetes. The possibility of a positive impact after advocating for such measures relies on the autonomy and to some extent depend on the level of health care systems available. There are various ethical dilemmas that threaten the validity of the proactive measures of mitigating Diabetes (AADE, 2007). A practical solution to these dilemmas must be acquired to increase the chances of success in the initiative.
In advocating for self-management of diabetes through adoption of preventive measures, the parties involved should take up the initiative and work for it. This is also applicable to the victims who are educated on how to manage themselves. There should be high desire between in the victim, the health care team and the trainers. Sometimes there is some resistance to change that may experience. This may be due to people not willing to change their feeding and behavioral habits. There may also be difficulties with the health care systems with the ability to pick up the new initiatives. Some of these system may be traditional and static and thus may lack the potential and competence to suit the new challenges (AADE, 2007).
Diabetes victims exhibit different characteristics. This is because of the nature of the condition. People who have diabetes are always homogeneous. This implies that there are differences that exist on the nature of the infection depending on various characteristics. Some of these characteristics are embedded on intellectual, demographic, cultural, intellectual and psychological backgrounds. This calls for adoption of a variety of health care programs to take of these victims. Some of these programs may require customized services on some special cases (AADE, 2007). Therefore, it is necessary for dynamic and flexible systems to be adopted to ensure that the matter is dealt with conclusively.
Management of the records of the patients with diabetes is also a crucial part of the program. These records have a lot of private and confidential details that need to be protected. Disclosure of these records may to unauthorized people may be a criminal offence. In most situations, the complex diabetes cases need to be handled by multiple professional with different levels of expertise and experience for effective mitigation and management. There may be clear protocol to guide the sharing of the information that may be regarded as confidential (HHS, 2014).
Ethics Laws Applicable
While promoting the endeavors of the advocacy program. It is also imperative to uphold the rights of the diabetes victims. One of the most important law that may be applicable in the program is the law that protects that patients and their confidential information. This is used to enhance the victim�s civil security. In handling health care records, a lot of care should be taken to ensure the information contained in the records is only passed to an individual who is an authorized medical practitioner. This individual must also be relevant to that specific instance (HHS, 2014).
In administering the proactive programs and activities, the health care team must ensure that they do not discriminate against anybody. Some cases may present challenges or situations that may prompt the health care giver to handle a patient in a manner that may appear to be discriminatory. This can be defined along ethnic, racial, gender, social status or cultural backgrounds. As indicated in the rights of patients in the code of ethics that regulates the health care professionals, medical attention should be delivered to all patients equally. This is also part of the integrity that is in the code of ethics for the medical experts. Applying medical professionalism is a very important part of advancing the rights of the patients (HHS, 2014).
Ethical Challenges in the Diabetic Population
Diabetic people are normal people disregarding their medical conditions. These individuals exhibit characteristics that are common in any demographic setup. This includes personal traits and characteristics. Some of these characteristics are guided by individual or cultural beliefs, attitudes and experiences. This is what defines the differences in the behaviors and natural characteristics that are evident among people. The diabetic population can be categorized into two broad classes, the obese and the non-obese.
The obese people are most predisposed to diabetes. In managing their conditions, they need to adopt special programs that assist in managing their bodies as a practical way of mitigating the weight and ultimately medical complications. One of the negative behaviors attributed to these individuals is their feeding habit (Health Department, 2008). Obesity comes up as a result of heavy intake of foodstuffs that have high cholesterol and starch. These individuals also engage in little physical activity and thus lead to a complication in the status of their health.
Non-obese people are also at a risk of suffering from diabetes. This is enhanced by various characteristics that may be beyond personal control. One of the most common cause of diabetes to the non-obese people is old age. At some age, people are easily attacked by diabetes because of the level of activity in the body. This can also be contributed by cigarette smoking or alcohol. These individuals may also suffer from diabetes as a result of genetics (Health Department, 2008). This condition can be passed from parents to offspring in the genes.
- AADE, (2007). Individualization of Diabetes Self-Management Education. American Association of Diabetes Educators. August, 2007. Retrieved from http://www.diabeteseducator.org
- Health Department, (2008). What Causes Diabetes? New York State Department of Health. Retrieved from http://www.health.ny.gov/
- HHS, (2014). Health Information Privacy. U.S Department of Health and Human Services. Retrieved from http://www.hhs.gov
