Evidence-Based Patient-Centered Needs Assessment

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Capella University

NURS-FPX6011

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Evidence-Based Patient-Centered Needs Assessment

Care will be effective and only realized once the patient’s needs are assessed. Diabetes affects more African Americans as compared to other groups in the United States. Their engagement in the planning of their care will help improve their general health status. The application of interventions using technology will meet their needs for quality and ethical care (Haw et al., 2021). Besides, these novel methods may help bridge the cultural as well as linguistic gaps in African American health care. Availability and the right choice in the strategies of technology will ultimately work to ensure that health care becomes just and fair for African Americans through the elimination of disparities.

Patient Engagement

Engaging patients in the management of certain health, economic, and cultural aspects is crucial, especially when dealing with diabetes in black people. Diabetes is prevalent in 12% of African Americans, while in European Americans, it is reported to be 7% and almost negligible in Asia (HHS, 2019). African American people are known to struggle to get proper care because of the difference in culture, language, and financial constraints. Patient engagement not only enhances the patients’ health but also helps decrease healthcare inequalities (Marzban et al., 2022). Engaging patients in care planning means that the providers will be in a position to identify priorities and, therefore, enhance diabetes care and decrease the incidences of complications such as kidney failure. It is crucial to know the culture of African American patients to provide culturally sensitive care. This approach gives the community to have confidence in the health care system since the providers understand their cultural beliefs. Also, the high cost of health care makes it difficult for African Americans to control their diabetes. This group has a poor health insurance status and receives poor health care because of their low income (Dickman et al., 2022). By involving the patient in care planning, it is possible to find cheaper ways of treating the patient hence cutting down on the costs of treatment.

Specific Examples of Patient Engagement Strategy

Patient engagement is a good strategy in the delivery of care since it focuses on the patient. Communicating with patients assists in understanding their healthcare requirements and guarantees that the care being offered is satisfactory to the patients (Levitan & Schoenbaum, 2021). Such a model of care may be especially useful in assisting African Americans to avoid the negative effects of diabetes. Moreover, shared decision-making helps patients to be engaged in the decision-making process of their treatment, which makes them aware of the benefits and risks associated with the various choices (Galletta et al., 2022). If patients’ preferences and their financial status are taken into account, healthcare providers can take necessary actions that will benefit the patients. Patients’ engagement in the management plan is important and this means that the patient’s health literacy must be improved and this means that the doctor must avoid using medical terms when explaining to the patient. Using the patient’s preferred language when presenting information is effective in making sure that the patient understands his or her health status and the options that are available to treat the condition (Muscat et al., 2020). Cultural, economic and individual factors in care delivery can be targeted to enhance diabetes self-management among African Americans.

Impact of Information and Communication Technology Tools

ICT tools can thus go a long way in improving health literacy among African Americans. Telehealth and mHealth, being such vital ICT technologies in rendering care, can present providers to an African American client from a distance and guide them on how they can manage their health conditions without having them visit physically. It also improves patient engagement towards the care plan and could minimize the presence of health disparities especially in vulnerable populations. Mobile Health applications are complemented with additional features such as blood glucose monitoring and drug reminders that may increase the possibility of advancing glycemic control amongst most racial and ethnic minority groups (Mayberry et al., 2019). Not only that, the electronic patient portals tied to EHRs allow patients to access health information, including information on treatment and test results. The tools of ICT also enable culturally appropriate information on diabetes; this enables an increase in health literacy among patients.

Unanswered Questions and Areas of Uncertainty

Other open questions and gaps involve how best ICT can be used to improve health literacy in the management of diabetes among African Americans. One major issue is the digital divide in this community; thus, effective use of ICT tools may affect the desired improvement in health literacy. Besides, the limited resources that are normally in short supply may influence the success of an ICT-driven initiative for improving health literacy within this population.

Value and Relevance of Technology Modalities

Telemedicine, mHealth, and patient portals are very effective and appropriate for African American patients with diabetes. These technologies enable patients’ participation, information sharing, and connection to health information. Telehealth is especially useful for African Americans with diabetes since it can reduce the costs of care services and increase their availability (Anderson et al., 2022). The use of mHealth applications is beneficial since it can help in tracking blood sugar levels and medication administration and thus patients can live a normal life, and the need for hospitalization is minimized (Eberle et al., 2020). Through patient portals, patients can view their health information, laboratory results, care plans, and recommended interventions (Dendere et al., 2019). This allows patients to be more involved in the management of diabetes and make choices that are most appropriate for them.

Interoperability of Modalities

These devices allow integration by providing healthcare providers with information to make decisions that drive better patient outcomes. With this, there is, therefore, better continuity of care for African Americans. mHealth applications have features for information storage such as information on blood glucose that would enable healthcare providers to know a patient’s condition for appropriate adjustments in the care plan. Integrate patient portals with EHR systems so that patient information is always current. This interoperability supports continuous care and thus allows different caregivers to effectively collaborate in providing quality care for the patient.

Communication Strategies

These include; talking it out, listening attentively and the teach-back approach. It enables patients and their families to get the right information that they need to ask questions and express their concerns (Ifrim et al., 2022). This is the process of acknowledging the patient’s emotions, establishing a good relationship with the patient, encouraging the patient to speak out and ensuring that the patient is truthful with the healthcare provider (Babaii et al., 2021). Telehealth is especially useful for appointments since it provides the patient with a comfortable space in which they do not have to worry about their appearance. Two-way communication and the use of simple language assist patients and their families in comprehending medical terms and health complications. Mobile health applications and patient portals include simple language descriptions and graphics to explain health issues (Yen & Leasure, 2019; Madanian et al., 2023). The teach-back method entails the patient being asked to express what the provider has said in his or her own words. This approach also teaches the patient about information sharing within the bounds of data protection laws including the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) (Theodos & Sittig, 2020). It encourages the free flow of information and avails health information to the patients and their families in simple language.

Innovative Strategies for Implementing Technology

The first strategy is to provide web-based training to healthcare providers to increase their cultural competence while interacting with patients during telehealth sessions (Nair & Adetayo, 2019). This training provides healthcare professionals with knowledge on cultural beliefs and practices of the African American community, to ensure they can provide adequate telemedicine support to their patients with diabetes. Consequently, patients are offered comprehensive care that is culturally and linguistically appropriate, thus improving the diagnosis, treatment, and management of their ailments.

The second strategy is about the inclusion of multilingual aspects in mHealth applications, so that clients can get the information and recommendations in the languages they prefer (Gonzalez et al., 2021). These culturally and linguistically appropriate mHealth interventions have demonstrated better glycemic control among African American diabetes patients. This approach is important in making sure that African American patients with LEP can read health information in their language hence improving their health status.

The last approach is to design and implement telehealth systems that are culturally sensitive and acceptable to the patients (Hilty et al., 2020). Such platforms should contain options for selecting the language, non-biased images, and interface components that would appeal to African American patients. A culturally appropriate telehealth interface will increase the satisfaction of patients, thus making telehealth more attractive and increasing the likelihood of patients attending their telehealth appointments, thus improving diabetes management (Duffy et al., 2022).

Potential Risk and Mitigating Adverse Outcomes

Some of the risks include African Americans not getting the right care they deserve because of language and cultural differences. Lack of cultural competence affects the delivery of care that is culturally sensitive, and this may lead to the deterioration of the health of the patients (Harrison et al., 2019). Sometimes, African American LEP patients may find it hard to explain their symptoms and other health issues to the providers, which may result in delayed diagnosis and treatment (Ramirez et al., 2022). If cultural issues are not considered, African Americans may decide to decline telehealth or mHealth interventions, which will lead to poor glycemic control and complications.

To reduce these risks, it is necessary to consider the lack of virtual cultural competency training, the absence of multilingual mHealth, and culturally sensitive interfaces of telehealth. Education of cultural diversity to the health care personnel helps to give the best to African American patients. Some of the features of mHealth applications include language translation whereby patients can get information in their desired languages (Gonzalez et al., 2021; Hilty et al., 2020). Telehealth interfaces that are sensitive to the cultural background of patients increase the patient’s interaction with the healthcare providers hence improving disease management.

Example of Prior Use of Strategies

The literature also highlights how disparity can be salvaged through training in cultural competence for healthcare staff. Various studies have shown that such training improves provider-patient communication and also leads to a reduction in disparities. Further, research by Mistry et al. (2022) has identified that the interfaces in telehealth designed to foster trust as well as equity will reduce the risk of disengagement among patients. Telehealth also facilitates the delivery of services that are sensitive to the patient’s cultural background. These, however, are some of the strategies suggested to minimize the mentioned risks and disparities in health care settings in general and have had favourable implications in terms of both engagement and outcomes in patients.

Conclusion

Addressing the health needs of African Americans with diabetes through innovative technology strategies marks an important gateway to better health outcomes. The healthcare needs of African Americans with diabetes can be best met with the integration of ICT tools in the healthcare delivery system. These advanced approaches ensure comprehensive and appropriate care for patients from the African American population and minimize risks due to inequities in access to health care. The point such that, in addition, will not only equip professionals with the knowledge to provide quality, ethical, competent care, but it will also create a platform to ensure cultural competency, language access, and engage patients. Technology-driven diabetes management significantly enhances the patient-provider interaction that results in improved health outcomes.

References

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Babaii, A., Mohammadi, E., & Sadooghiasl, A. (2021). The meaning of the empathetic nurse–patient communication: A qualitative study. Journal of Patient Experience, 8(8), 237437352110564. https://doi.org/10.1177/23743735211056432

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