Assignment Problem:
Read the post below and suggesting an alternate strategy for educating and supporting the patient within the cultural and family context.
Education & Support
Food is a big part of the culture in the Hispanic community. They tend to gather around food, so their long-term health is directly related to their daily food choices. Before I began educating and supporting my patient, I would ask about his place of origin because Hispanic is a very general term. A person's place of origin, acculturation, assimilation, and socioeconomic level are factors that can influence food preferences and eating patterns. Food, dietary practices, and cultural traditions also vary from one region of a country to the next. I would get a basis of what type of foods he typically eats and enjoys and what cultural considerations are most important to him when it comes to food. Based on research, traditional Hispanic diets are not to blame. As the Hispanic community goes through dietary assimilation and toward a more American eating pattern, their health outcomes worsen. Traditional Hispanic diets can better protect their health. Due to financial hardship or access to healthier options, they are sometimes forced into eating patterns that include highly processed foods and refined sugars. Therefore, based on his cultural preferences, I would educate him on which foods can help keep his blood sugar under control. I would let him know that he should watch his carb consumption because people with type 2 diabetes don't respond well to the insulin needed to process sugar. For Hispanic Americans, carbs can commonly come from foods like white rice and tortillas. Therefore, I would tell him that he needs to start becoming aware of how many carbs he is eating. He should also check his blood sugar after his biggest meal at least once, to get an idea of the relationship between carb consumption and blood sugar levels.
Impact of Fresh Food Limitations
Food and nutrition insecurity is a very real thing and a term I did not know until doing this assignment. Food and nutrition insecurity is a term to describe when someone is unable to access or afford enough food or enough nutritious food for their overall health and well-being (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It means that they aren't necessarily getting the healthiest kind of food. Most food and nutrition insecurity issues are related to social determinants such as the ones that this patient is experiencing. Research shows that food and nutrition insecurity not only puts people at a higher risk of developing diabetes but can also affect how well someone can manage their diabetes. Experiencing food and nutrition insecurity while having diabetes can lead to higher A1C levels, diabetes-related complications, hospitalizations, and poor mental health.
Suggestions for Affordable Diabetic Diet
I would provide this patient with several suggestions for maintaining a diabetic diet that he can afford. For example, beans are a staple food in most Hispanic diets and are full of healthy fiber, low on the glycemic index, and generally inexpensive. I would encourage him to buy dried beans and cook them with low fat. A lot of times, the Hispanic community lives in multigenerational households. Therefore, I would encourage him to add options to family meals by bringing a vegetable dish to contribute when visiting. Eating more vegetables means he would eat less of the heavier foods like rice and tortillas. I also found a great deal of information on the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) MyPlate website and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website that I could provide to this patient. MyPlate even has information written in Spanish. The CDC offers other suggestions for people to receive help for food and nutrition insecurity. Anyone having a hard time accessing healthy food can check their community for a food bank or food pantry. They may also qualify for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. There were several links within the CDC website that offered food and nutrition programs, budget-friendly diabetes meal plans, saving money on diabetes care, and coping strategies. Other tips for maintaining an affordable diabetic diet that I would provide this patient include:
1. Plan meals ahead, only buy ingredients you need and cook your own food. Packaged or restaurant food is more expensive.
2. Cook large batches and freeze what you don't use right away.
3. Bring lunch to work instead of buying it to save money and eat healthier.
4. Buy food in bulk and buy generic instead of higher-priced brands.
5. Shop sales and use coupons and reward cards.