Evidence-based practice project (Research Paper Sample)

Evidence-based practice project
Student:
Professor:
Course title:
Date:
Evidence-based practice project
In this paper, the findings of a research/evidence-based article are analyzed. The selected article focuses comprehensively on a particular intervention of diabetes in adults. Summary of major ideas of the research findings for adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is provided.
Research-based Article: Vadstrup, E. S., Frolich, A., Perild, H., Borg, H., & Roder, M. (2009). Lifestyle Intervention for Type 2 Diabetes Patients – Trial Protocol of The Copenhagen Type 2 Diabetes Rehabilitation Project. BMC Public Health, 9:166
In their study, Vadstrup et al. (2009) sought to assess the efficacy of a group-based lifestyle rehabilitation intervention within primary care. The new intervention proposed by the authors is intended for adults with diabetes and it combines empowerment-based education, dietary advice, and exercise training on a group-based level as a single multi-disciplinary intervention. Vadstrup et al. (2009) compared the psychological, physiological, and metabolic effects of the new group-based multi-disciplinary lifestyle rehabilitation program in an outpatient clinic for diabetics.
The intervention for adults T2DM
The intervention described in the article comprises a multi-disciplinary intervention comprising 3 programs; education program, diet instruction program, and physical exercise program. (i) The education program: this comprises one weekly group session of 1½ hours for a period of six weeks, with eight patients for each group. The sessions, according to Vadstrup et al. (2009), are run by a podiatrist, a dietician, a physiotherapist, and a nurse. The contents of the session consist of information about the pathophysiology of T2DM; education in self blood-glucose monitoring; the role of inheritance and environment; the late complications of diabetes; the importance of smoking cessation, weight loss, medication, healthy diet, and physical activity; as well as cardiovascular disease and hypertension (Vadstrup et al., 2009). The podiatrist will advise the adult diabetic patients on foot care and examine the feet of the patients. The empowerment approach to T2DM education entails patient teamwork and is aimed at increasing the self-awareness and knowledge of patients that will enable them to handle their own T2DM self-management (Pedersen & Saltin, 2006).
(ii) The diet instruction program: this comprises 2 three-hours group-based cooking courses and one session in a local supermarket. The spouses of the patients are encouraged to participate in the cooking courses (Vadstrup et al., 2009). (iii) The physical exercise program: this is supervised and it lasts for 1½ hours, and the sessions occur 2 times per week for twelve-weeks. The sessions are group-based. A physiotherapist will tailor an individual exercise program for every patient and include both resistance and aerobic exercise. Following the first measurement of the levels of blood-glucose, patients begin the warn-up exercise for a period of 20 minutes. This is then followed by basic exercise training for a duration of 15 minutes, and next is aerobic exercise that is performed on a bicycle ergometer for a duration of 12 minutes, resistance training for 25 minutes, stretch for a duration of 10 minutes, and then followed by a final blood-glucose measurement. The patients are urged to do ½ hour of physical activity on no less than 3 extra days each week in accordance with international guidelines. Moreover, patients are offered an elective, if required, a smoking cessation course (Vadstrup et al., 2009).
Before the patients enter the program, they take part in an individual motivation interview with a physiotherapist or a nurse. The personnel are educated and supervised constantly in the usage of the motivational interviewing technique by a professional psychologist. The adult diabetic patients set their own personal goals, and these goals are assessed following the intervention program at a final consultation and one and three months later by telephone follow-up contacts (Vadstrup et al., 2009). Although the intervention suggested in the article is non-pharmacological, the patients are advised to go on with their medication during the intervention. Decisions with regard to alters in medication are left to the discretion off the doctors of the patients (Vadstrup et al., 2009).
There is strong evidence with regard to the beneficial effects of exercise on symptoms of T2DM, physical fitness, as well as quality of life, and the group-based non-pharmacological lifestyle studies generally indicate improvement in glycaemic control and weight loss relative to individual counseling (Gaede et al., 2008; Sigal et al., 2007). Nearly all lifestyle intervention studies have been focusi...