Answer 3 for NUR 550 Select a population health problem or issue of interest from the available studies
Hodgson et al. (2022) have undertaken a systematic review to establish the characteristics of people and services used by patients with type 2 diabetes in the primary care setting and utilized these to investigate the health outcomes subsequently. Moreover, since type 2 diabetes is a global healthcare issue, it is important to know how often those patients use healthcare services and how it impacts their overall health (World Health Organization, 2023). Particularly, Hodgson et al. (2022) focus on whether more service utilization results in improved health status and fewer cardiovascular incidents or mortality. This research is considered empirical, practice-focused T3 type of translational research, which aims at practice-based improvement of health practices and assessment of the efficiency of the implemented interventions.
The study’s research method was based on the retrospective cohort study design of 168 primary care practices over seven years, further showing that increased service utilization of patients with type 2 diabetes did not necessarily result in better outcomes, including the decline of cardiovascular incidents or mortality rates. The study revealed increased primary care visit frequency related to increased cardiovascular disease events and mortality. This finding suggests that despite the increased utilization of healthcare services, patients with diabetes may be receiving inadequate care or the wrong kind of care to influence excellent long-term results.
By assessing the effectiveness of diabetes interventions and monitoring systems in the actual clinical setting instead of a carefully restricted setting, this research is an example of T3 translational research based on guidelines by DeNisco (2024). It emphasizes the importance of using more effective strategies to reach those patients for whom therapy can be significantly improved, given the right care (Kwame & Petrucka, 2021). Such research is important in managing population health as it establishes deficiencies that may exist and the changes that can be made that could be of benefit to numerous primary care settings.
References
DeNisco, S. M. (2024). Advanced practice nursing: Essential knowledge for the profession (5th ed.). Jones & Bartlett Learning.
Hodgson, S., Morgan-Harrisskitt, J., Hounkpatin, H., Stuart, B., & Dambha-Miller, H. (2022). Primary care service utilization and outcomes in type 2 diabetes: A longitudinal cohort analysis. BMJ Open, 12(1), e054654. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2021-054654
Kwame, A., & Petrucka, P. M. (2021). A literature-based study of patient-centered care and communication in nurse-patient interactions: Barriers, facilitators, and the way forward. BMC Nursing, 20(158). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12912-021-00684-2
World Health Organization. (2023, April 5). Diabetes. World Health Organization; WHO. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/diabetes
