Essay Example on Diabetes: A Growing Health Risk in the U.S.

Introduction

One of the most challenging health issues in the United States is seeing diseases limiting the productivity of a population the way diabetes does. According to the World Health Organization (2018), the number of people with diabetes in the United States keeps on increasing: it increased up to 422 million by 2014 from 108 million in 1980. This upsurge, which shows a significant rise in a critical health problem over time, shows how the general population will continue being at risk as time advances. Jacobsen et al. (2018) further found that the incidence of type 1 diabetes has been rising by 3% yearly, with productive adults being highly vulnerable. Regarding that, it is vital to introduce an intervention that seeks to educate the adult population about type 1 diabetes management.

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Proposed Intent of the Health Communication Message

After completing the education campaign, the target population (adults with children added between 35-45 years) is expected to:

• Understand the risks that type 1 diabetes poses to the population
• Understand vulnerabilities and what they can do to reduce it
• Be in a better position to manage the disease and help their colleagues

Literature Review

Diabetes affects not only people's productivity but also causes deaths to many people. Diabetes, without classification, was responsible for 1.6 million deaths of adults in 2016 (World Health Organization, 2018). Type 1 diabetes differs from type 2 diabetes in that type 1 is characterized by deficient insulin production, while type 2 is non-insulin-dependent (Goldstein & Muller-Wieland, 2016). The prevalence of type 2 diabetes is higher than type 1, but type 1 is riskier since its prevention is not known with the current knowledge.

As the global health industry strives to make people safe and manage health issues affecting the population, there is a need to focus on type 1 diabetes. According to Anisman (2015), adults are vulnerable the same as the young population, and children are also at risk due to genetic connection. Given this, it is a widespread problem, and it is crucial to work with a population group that can help to make a significant change. Generally known, adults between 35-45 years comprise an exposed population group that is highly interested in what is happening to the entire population. They are more responsible since they have children, and can do everything possible to keep their families safe.

Conceptual Framework

Health-related campaigns have been used to trigger behavior change in the past and can make the current campaign successful. The primary target is adults between 35 and 45 years but with children. Indeed, there is no denying that education campaigns can play an integral role in informing the masses, particularly when they touch on a critical issue, such as their health. The outcome is better if tools of mass communication are used.

Theory description: mass media is used to inform people about many national issues, and can be very useful in passing information about the management of type 1 diabetes. A large mass can also access mass communication channels, and there is a high chance that a significant population will receive the intended information.

The rationale of choosing the theory: from the World Health Organization (2018) statistics, the population at risk of diabetes continues increasing over time. If the same projection is used, it implies that more people will be at risk of type 1 diabetes as time advances. By using mass media, the population expected to make a change will receive the information and use it appropriately.

Health Communication Campaign

Target Population: the population of interest remains adults aged between 35 and 45 years and with kids.

Communication Channels

For better communication outcomes, it is crucial to use both mainstream and social media. Television and radio remain highly reliable communication tools when it comes to mass communication. Many people have access to these mediums of communication, and their ownership is high too. On the other hand, the world continues to make social media a reliable tool for communication and receiving information promptly. It is used since people have become tech-savvy and also high internet users (Information Resources Management Association, 2018). Using both methods, concurrently, is expected to achieve great results.

Message

The message will be primarily on the risk factors of type 1 diabetes and vulnerabilities. The population will also be informed about the most reliable management strategies. The objective is to ensure that people with diabetes can be productive despite having the disease. Also, it sensitizes the importance of improving lifestyles to ensure other populations are not at risk of diabetes. In this case, adults will help to protect their children.

Communication Strategies

Strengths: mainstream and social media have been proven to be effective when it comes to mass communication. Also, education campaigns are highly reliable when it comes to behavior change and creating public awareness.

Weaknesses: it can be difficult to monitor whether the message is reaching people or not. Besides that, using ads in social media can be disruptive, and people can ignore the message. Unless the message is relayed during critical times such as during news bulletin, it stands minimal chances to reach masses. This strategy can be costly too.

Campaign materials: the campaign will heavily rely on public service announcements and digitally created ads. Posters in social media will be used too.

Conclusion

The chosen methods are expected to reach a significant portion of the target population. At the end of the campaign, the information should reach over 80% of adults between 35 and 45 years. Eventually, there should be some behavior and lifestyle changes to help in the management of type 1 diabetes, which is the primary aim of the campaign.

References

Anisman, H. (2015). Stress and your health: From vulnerability to resilience. John Wiley & Sons.

Goldstein, B. J., & Muller-Wieland, D. (Eds.). (2016). Type 2 diabetes: principles and practice. CRC Press.

Information Resources Management Association. (2018). Social media marketing: Breakthroughs in research and practice. IGI Global.

Jacobsen, L. M., Haller, M. J., & Schatz, D. A. (2018). Understanding pre-type 1 diabetes: The key to prevention. Frontiers in endocrinology, 9, 70. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5845548/

World Health Organization. (2018, October 30). Diabetes. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/diabetes