Diabetes is one of the most common chronic medical conditions with 34.2 million people affected in the US. It costs $327 billion in medical expenses, lost work, and wages. Diabetics are at higher risk of major medical complications. 90 to 95% of 30 million Americans with diabetes are classified as type 2 (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2020).
Management of diabetes is within the scope of OT practice as it is part of health management and maintenance. It is described as how a person develops, manages, and maintains routines and habits for health and wellness promotion.
A 2018 online survey was conducted with US-based Occupational Therapy (OT) and Occupational Therapy Assistant (OTA) program directors. Nearly half of the OT and more than half of the OTA program directors reported only 1.5–>3hrs is devoted to
diabetes care and management in their curriculum. A 2019 online survey was disseminated to OT practitioners to ascertain their self-reported competence and knowledge about type 2 diabetes mellitus and its lifestyle management. OT clinicians reported minimal to somewhat skilled in educating and training clients in self-help skills related to diabetes management.
OT practitioners are suggested to take training and courses that are relevant to their practice and domain for long-term retention of content and tasks (Custers, 2010). The American Occupational Therapy Association encourages OT practitioners to include health-promoting tasks in their practice as the profession’s roots and values are aligned with the health promotion (Wood, et al., 2013).
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bu.edu/oai:open.bu.edu:2144/41434 |
| Date | 26 September 2020 |
| Creators | Osal, Ryan B. |
| Contributors | Jacobs, Karen |
| Source Sets | Boston University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis/Dissertation |
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