An evaluation of the effectiveness of foot care education in rural clinics

Abstract

Purpose Approximately 13.3% of Mississippi's adult population lives with diabetes, with a higher prevalence among racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic minorities. However, there is no recorded data regarding the effectiveness of education on foot ulcer prevention provided to patients in the rural clinic network. Future studies to evaluate the effectiveness of foot care education would benefit from a racially-, ethically-, and socioeconomically-diverse education program. Methods This study combined verbal and visual education tools to improve the acquisition of knowledge and measure the effectiveness of knowledge the diabetic type 2 patients retained. A convenience sample of patients (N = 9) completed pre-and post-intervention questionnaires. A convenience sample of the clinic's nurses (N = 4) completed only a pre-intervention questionnaire. Data collection for this project included a 5-min formative one-on-one interview, pre-and post-test approach. The Statistical Package for the Social Science (SPSS) 20.0 was used to analyze the transcripts from the focus group, descriptive statistics from the demographic sheet, the questionnaire, and surveys. Results Qualitative themes were used to evaluate the effectiveness of the program and to capture the participants' perception of their experiences. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the demographic data and the knowledge retained. Variables were calculated using central tendency of mean, median, and mode. Satisfaction score with the education provided yielded a mean of 4.56 and standard deviation (SD) of .527. Conclusions Detailed prospective research is required to determine if implementing education early in the patient's plan of care will improve the patient's overall health care status thus, decreasing facility costs.

Effectiveness of Behavioural Change Communication on Knowledge of Self Care Management of Diabetic Foot Ulcer among Diabetes Patients

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Diabetic Wound Healing: Navigating Physiology, Advancements and Research Frontiers

“…The guidelines emphasize variables that can negatively affect foot health in addition to providing appropriate self-care strategies that support and sustain foot health. This all-encompassing strategy seeks to assist people in identifying and reducing hazards, maintaining long-term foot health, and averting further issues [57].…”

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“…Yet, older adults often face internal (e.g., physical ability, perceived importance, education level and knowledge) and external (e.g., communication between patient-provider, seasonal changes, finance) barriers to seeking and/or receiving footcare, and these underpin poorer health outcomes [7,8]. Findings from a recent qualitative study identified that older adults benefitted from advice, education, and support to maintain appropriate footcare, yet evidence of the effectiveness of interventions are lacking [9], and there are many challenges to delivering preventative footcare interventions [10]. Effective health promotion strategies are fundamental to enhancing footcare and promoting interventions which target the factors influencing health behaviors.…”