Credible Sources of Information for Evidence-based Practice in Diabetes Management
Introduction
Diabetes is a significant healthcare problem in most countries of the world. Managing the disorder requires substantial amounts of resources, time, and personnel. The past few decades have seen a rise in the use of the evidence-based practice in managing diabetes mellitus. Healthcare providers use research findings to determine the right course of action when they identify a patient who has diabetes. Some websites also provide reliable information regarding various healthcare problems and procedures for managing them. The choice of materials or websites to gather the evidence depends on several factors. This paper discusses some of the factors that a healthcare provider should consider when choosing the right journals, articles, or websites when dealing with a patient suffering from diabetes. The paper also includes annotated bibliographies of some of the journals and articles appropriate for that purpose. Credible sources of information need to be relevant, timely and approved by the right authorities.
Relevance
Article Relevance
Relevance is a significant factor to consider when sourcing information for evidence-based practice. According to Sbaffi and Rowley (2017), one should use articles, journals, or websites containing information relevant to the topic at hand (Sbaffi & Rowley, 2017). The article, Current trends of digital solutions for diabetes management by Maryna Neborachko, Aleksandr Pkhakadze, and Iryna Vlasenko would help healthcare providers when dealing with diabetes mellitus. The article discusses some of the available technologies available for diabetes management (Neborachko, Pkhakadze, & Vlasenko, 2019). The past few decades have shown that digitization in the healthcare system is almost inevitable. The article discusses some of the available technologies for self-monitoring of glucose levels and their impact on improving glycated hemoglobin levels in the body. WellDoc is one of the digital platforms that have been of significant importance in diabetes management (Neborachko, Pkhakadze, & Vlasenko, 2019). The article also discusses how glucose sensors and insulin pumps can be synchronized for that purpose. The article Continuous glucose monitoring sensors for diabetes management: a review of technologies and applications by Cappon et al. also discusses the benefits of using glucose sensors and other technologies in diabetes management (Cappon et al., 2019). The two articles could be of significant importance to a healthcare provider dealing with diabetes patients.
The article, Diabetes management in the elderly by Erika Leung, Supakanya Wongrakpanich, and Medha N. Munshi could be of significant importance for healthcare providers when dealing with an elderly patient with diabetes mellitus. The article describes people above 65 years as a unique group with special healthcare needs (Leung, 2018). For that reason, diabetic patients above the stated age should be treated differently from people below that age. According to the authors, people above 65 years make up more than 25 percent of diabetic patients in the United States (Leung, 2018). The elderly population in the country has also been rising significantly over the past few decades, something that calls for healthcare providers to seek the right skills and experience to deal with such patients. The authors also predict that diabetes prevalence among the elderly is likely to double by 2040 (Leung, 2018). Older adults with diabetes are at relatively high risk of developing macrovascular and microvascular complications compared to other groups of people. Such information would be significantly necessary for any healthcare provider in the United States and beyond.
Website Relevance
The discussed articles were sourced from Google Scholar. The website is one of the reliable sources of peer-reviewed pieces of literature. It has been in use for a significantly long time by researchers from all parts of the world (Sbaffi & Rowley, 2017). All the discussed sources have also been linked to their respective publishers. The publishers are also well-established specialists on matters of healthcare. The fact that Google Scholar was established primarily to offer research materials shows a relatively low likelihood of offering biased information.
Timeliness
All the discussed articles are recent enough for the topic. According to Sbaffi and Rowley (2017), recent materials contain recent findings related to current problems (Sbaffi & Rowley, 2017). The article, Current trends of digital solutions for diabetes management by Maryna Neborachko, Aleksandr Pkhakadze, and Iryna Vlasenko was published in 2019 (Neborachko, Pkhakadze, & Vlasenko, 2019). Continuous glucose monitoring sensors for diabetes management: a review of technologies and applications by Cappon et al. was published in 2019 (Cappon et al., 2019). Diabetes management in the elderly by Erika Leung was published in 2018 (Leung, 2018). That means that the diabetes management approaches covered by the article have a relatively high degree of relevance to current cases. The topic of diabetes management is affected with time because of the emergence of new complications and management approaches. Therefore, one needs to use the most recent pieces of information available to achieve the expected outcomes. The articles were also sourced from Google Scholar, a website that contains many recent journals and articles related to diabetes management and other healthcare topics.
Authority
People and websites with authority have authored all the discussed articles to speak on diabetes management. The article Continuous glucose monitoring sensors for diabetes management: a review of technologies and applications by Cappon et al. was authorized by the Korean Diabetes Association (Cappon et al., 2019). The association is nationally recognized in matters of diabetes management. The article, Current trends of digital solutions for diabetes management by Maryna Neborachko, Aleksandr Pkhakadze, and Iryna Vlasenko was authorized by Diabetes Foundation (India) (Neborachko, Pkhakadze, & Vlasenko, 2019). It is a non-profit organization that has been dealing with matters of diabetes management in India and beyond. The organization is registered under Societies Registration Act in India. The article, Diabetes management in the elderly by Erika Leung has been authorized by the American Diabetes Association (Leung, 2018). It is a non-profit organization that has been educating diabetic patients and the general population on various factors relating to diabetes management.
Conclusion
Information credibility is crucial for evidence-based practice in managing diabetes and other health problems. This paper covers some of the recent pieces of literature that provide useful information for diabetes management. The sources are relevant and timely for the topic. Recognized organizations have also authorized them. For that reason, healthcare providers and researchers can use them for various purposes.
References
Cappon, G., Vettoretti, M., Sparacino, G., & Facchinetti, A. (2019). Continuous glucose monitoring sensors for diabetes management: a review of technologies and applications. Diabetes & metabolism journal, 43(4), 383.
Neborachko, M., Pkhakadze, A., & Vlasenko, I. (2019). Current trends of digital solutions for diabetes management. Diabetes & Metabolic Syndrome: Clinical Research & Reviews, 13(5), 2997-3003.
Popat, K., Mukherjee, S., Strötgen, J., & Weikum, G. (2016, October). Credibility assessment of textual claims on the web. In Proceedings of the 25th ACM International on Conference on Information and Knowledge Management (pp. 2173-2178).
Sbaffi, L., & Rowley, J. (2017). Trust and credibility in web-based health information: a review and agenda for future research. Journal of medical Internet research, 19(6), e218.