Introduction and Objectives
- To assess community members’ knowledge about diabetes and its proper management.
- To allow community members of age 40 years and above who are willing and able to participate in a diabetes questionnaire.
- To identify many factors contributing to the widespread of diabetes in Manila.
- To find out how community intervention on diabetes can help improve quality of living standard for the Filipinos.
- To determine the percentage of Manilas who are prone to undergoing health-risk assessment on diabetes.
- To apply the health education theories in explaining issues and impacts of diabetes in Manila.
Community health assessment (as a social agent) is the collecting, analyzing and using of data to educate and mobilize communities, develop priorities and gather resources, and plan actions to advance the public’s health (Minnesota Department of Health, n.d.). It does not take a simple and seemingly magical solution to realize that diabetes and hypertension have significant consequences on the health outcomes of many populations. Scholar-Practitioner Project (SPP) seeks to focus on the case and impact of diabetes, in today’s public health issues- specifically in Manila, Philippines. According to the National Nutrition and Health Survey (n.d.), incidence of high blood pressure remained relatively high in Filipinos communities.
The community health problem of this study is the increasing number of people who have high possibility of developing diabetes in Manila, Philippines. Sadly to say, most individuals with diabetes develop high blood pressure during their lifespan (WebMD, n.d.). Additionally, high blood pressure commonly grows over many years, and distresses nearly many adults of 40 years and above (U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, 2007.).
According to the International Diabetes Federation (n.d), the table below shows 2014 statistical diabetes in the Philippines:
| Total adult population (1000s) (20-79 years) | 55,540 | Number of deaths in adults due to diabetes | 53,549 |
| Prevalence of diabetes in adults (20-79 years) (%) | 5.9 | Cost per person with diabetes (USD) | 205.5 |
| Total cases of adults (20-79 years) with diabetes (1000s) | 3,273.6 | Number of cases of diabetes in adults that are undiagnosed (1000s) | 1,743.2 |
According to the media of Laureate Education (2012), health-planning is the most appropriate choice for the implementation of effective community health assessment program, and in reducing the number of Filipinos with high risk of developing diabetes in Manila, Philippines. It was also understood that health-planning is considered a “top down” approach. Public policy-makers make suitable decisions about health quality enhancements of Philippines. Sound health-planning approach is equally important in an orderly process to improve the health status of individuals and populations. The healthcare professions could be non-governmental organizations working to improve the Manila’s quality of healthcare. They could also be civil society groups, such as religious organizations, research institutions and labor unions. Precaution Adoption Process Model (PAPM), as a community health approach can explain a system or structure for guiding people with high risk of developing diabetes in Philippine.
The PAPM is a convenient framework for assessing where a person is in the process of deciding to take action on a health behavior (Corner & Sparks, 1996). The community health intervention of this study is the raising consequences about the number of people who have high likelihood of emerging diabetes in Manila, Philippines. Sadly to say, most persons with diabetes develop high blood pressure, during their lifecycle (WebMD, n.d.). Additionally, high blood pressure frequently develops over many years, and suffers nearly many adults of 40 years and above (U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, 2007.). Consequently, PAPM can best explain an interventional process to tacking the epidemic of high blood pressure on adults. Likewise, PAPM can be used among other theories, such as Diffusion of Innovations Theory (DIT) and Health Belief Model (HBM: Glanz, Rimer & Vismanath, 2008). HBM has the prospective to describe correlation between individual’s perceived susceptibility and severity to illness, and the perceived probability of declining the threat of diabetes in one’s life – the higher the individual’s perceived threat of diabetes, the greater the probability that the individual will take a specific health action to prevent the illness (Glanz, Rimer, Vismanath, 2008). The use of DIT is another community-based approach for preventing injuries and disease infections. However, for this community health assessment, DIT cannot explain assessment process for participating diabetic patients or member of community. This is because DIT is not effective in describing community health situations where behavior is bad or need to avert a behavior. For example, rather than adopting a behavior of diabetes (i.e. hypothetical example), how can the process help to avert a behavior of diabetes in Manila community (in a social system).
According to the Tasmanian Department of Health and Human Services (n.d.), community participation is an implementation whereby all members of community participate in the development and success of their community. This approach includes participation in community health intervention for improving the health outcomes of community members. Community members are the backbone of any community resources. The idea of involving community residents to participate in any health interventional activities is the best asset of any community health assessment. It is usually recognized that local residents of the community should be involved in public decision-making. This has inspired many communities to search for principles that depict sound public partaking practices. Another comparison theory is the Trans-theoretical Model of Change (TMC). One of the similarities between PAPM and TMC is the notion that they are all stage model. They relied on a personal change of behavior over time, rather than attempting to forecast levels of behavior across persons (Health Behavior and Health Education, n.d ).
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