Date of Award

Winter 12-10-2021

Document Type

Scholarly Project

Degree Name

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)

Department

Nursing

First Advisor

aheter@pittstate.edu, Dr. Ashleigh Heter, Pittsburg State University

Second Advisor

ahite@pittstate.edu, Dr. Amy Hite, Pittsburg State University

Third Advisor

amason@pittstate.edu, Dr. Alicia Mason Collins, Pittsburg State University

Abstract

The purpose of this project was to develop and evaluate the effectiveness of a diabetes education toolkit on an e-learning platform for improving individual self-management and medication knowledge to promote healthy lifestyle behaviors for young adults living with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).

A descriptive, quasi-experimental design with one-group pretest-posttest was used. Participants were recruited from an independently owned medical clinic. The participants were English-speaking young adults, between ages 18 to 39 with a diagnosis of prediabetes or T2DM. The intervention was a DSMES toolkit with twelve e-learning modules that participants completed over a three-month period. Data collected was age diagnosed, glycated hemoglobin (A1C), blood pressure, height, weight, current age, medication adherence, self-rated perception, and confidence of self-care.

A paired sample t-test was used to evaluate if participants increased their knowledge of diabetes self-management and decreased A1C over the three month period. Participant outcomes were positive with post-DSMES mean of (5.4) for confidence in diabetes self-care knowledge and (5.0) for readiness for lifestyle change. A program evaluation was conducted to determine curriculum revisions for future replication. The participant comments were positive for impacting healthy behaviors, dietary changes, weight loss, stress management, and establishing physical and mental health routines.

Participants’ A1C measurements at three months did not provide valuable data for this study. Limitations of the study were small sample size and convenience sampling at independently owned small clinic, which may limit the generalizability of the results. However, the study results demonstrate a beneficial role for the DSMES toolkit in improving confidence in self-management knowledge and preparedness for healthy behavior modifications.

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