Over the past decades, diabetes has become one of the most prevalent chronic illnesses in the majority of the countries. The rates of mortality and morbidity resulting from diabetes remain high, and health professionals predict that these numbers can grow in the future (Del Valle & McDonnell, 2018). A comprehensive approach is required to address this issue at a state and global level. The Chronic Care Model has been one of the most common strategies applied over the recent decades to treat diabetes patients (Macha & McDonough, 2011). The model is comprised of five essential elements, which include community resources, self-management support, delivery system design, decision support, and a clinical information system (Macha & McDonough, 2011). Two elements that have proved to be most efficient when helping patients with diabetes are self-management support and delivery system design, and the present paper will discuss the effect they had on a certain patient.

One of the personal experiences that I have had with an individual who had diabetes concerned my uncle. He is a male aged 52 who has been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes when he was 46. His BMI at the time of the diagnosis was 28 kg/m2, which means that he was considered overweight (Macha & McDonough, 2011). The Chronic Care Model was used to address the health issues that he has had as a result of his condition. Self-management support and delivery system design were the two specific elements of the model emphasized during treatment.

The first element, self-management support, refers to educating patients on the ways and strategies to change certain behaviors in order to gain more control over diabetes and other related conditions. This approach has been demonstrated to benefit the patients significantly, improving their health outcomes such as “physiological disease markers, quality of life, health status, and satisfaction” (Ansari et al., 2022, p. 409). In my uncle’s case, this has manifested in the regular discussions held at his doctor’s office. As his care team educated him on various aspects of managing the condition, he managed to introduce permanent changes in his daily life, such as testing his blood sugar and leading a healthy lifestyle.

The second element of the Chronic Care Model that has had a positive impact on my uncle’s health and lifestyle was the delivery system design. It can be defined as the collaborative efforts made by different groups of health professionals to improve patient outcomes. Studies have shown that this element is also highly beneficial to treat diabetes, improving “adherence to guidelines, patient service utilization, and disease-related physiological measures” (Ansari et al., 2022, p. 410). Delivery system design has introduced patient-centered and team-based approach to my uncle’s treatment and care plan. As a result, he was able to receive necessary help and support both on his clinical visits and during the follow-up care.

It can be concluded that the Chronic Care Model is an efficient approach to address health issues resulting from diabetes and related conditions. Self-management support and delivery system design are two elements of this approach that can have the most beneficial impact of the patients’ ability and willingness to make life changes to lead a quality life. The personal experience discussed in this paper has demonstrated that the combination of these two elements increases patients’ awareness about their condition and the ways to maintain a healthy lifestyle, minimizing potential health risks.

References

Ansari, R. M., Harris, M. F., Hosseinzadeh, H., & Zwar, N. (2022). Implementation of chronic care model for diabetes self-management: A quantitative analysis. Diabetology, 3(3), 407-422. Web.

Del Valle, K. L., & McDonnell, M. E. (2018). Chronic care management services for complex diabetes management: A practical overview. Current Diabetes Reports, 18(12). Web.

Macha, K., & McDonough, J. P. (2011). Epidemiology for advanced nursing practice. Jones & Bartlett Publishers.