Diabetes is one of the major public health concerns globally, including the USA. Currently, millions of people are suffering from the disease in the country, especially due to the consumption of unhealthy diet and sedentary lifestyle that is associated with physical inactivity. West Virginia (WV) is one of the communities that are highly affected by diabetes ( Misra et al., 2016) . As a result, it is important to create an effective health promotion strategy that can help in reducing the prevalence of diabetes in WV significantly.
Diabetes is the major health concerns in WV, especially due to its high prevalence in the community. WV is ranked second in terms of the prevalence of diabetes in all states in the USA, making the main health risks facing local residents in the community. About 13% of residents of WV have diabetes ( Misra et al., 2016) . Unfortunately, the prevalence is expected to increase to 17% by 2025 if appropriate interventions are not taken by the government and local communities ( Misra et al., 2016) . Some of the main factors that are facilitating the high prevalence of diabetes in WV include physical inactivity, the Appalachian culture, and a surge in the aging population. Besides, according to Nazar et al. (2016), lack of awareness and knowledge of diabetes are making many people suffer from the disease in the community.
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Therefore, public education is the main health promotion strategy that can be used to address the problem of diabetes in WV. A study by Garg (2013) revealed that community-based education is one of the most effective health promotion strategies that can be used to prevent diabetes. A significant number of individuals in WV are not aware of the risks associated with diabetes. Consequently, they are not concerned with health risks such as overweight, smoking, and physical inactivity that result in diabetes. Thus, there is a need to conduct education as the main health promotion strategies with the specific objective of increasing awareness and knowledge of obesity among local people.
Obesity mainly affects adults and the elderly in a community. As a result, the education sessions will mainly comprise of adults from the WV community. Specifically, the participants will engage in a community-based education program that is aimed at increasing awareness and knowledge of obesity. The education sessions will be problem-based and designed to reduce obesity in the community. At the same time, local medical professionals will be involved in the education sessions. Many health professionals lack sufficient education about diabetes, which ends up affecting the quality of health care services ( Garg, 2013) . Also, to effectively reduce the rate of diabetes in the community, collaborative and participative approaches will be used to set clear goals for the health promotion programs. Specifically, the participants will be required to jointly set goals and objectives that would be accomplished at the end of the education programs. Participants are expected to have in-depth knowledge of risks that are linked to diabetes and appropriate interventions to prevent the disease.
The need to prevent diabetes should be the major concern of local organizations and individuals in WV because it affects millions of local residents. Creating awareness through educational programs can help in reducing the risks of diabetes while improving the wellbeing of the people. All relevant stakeholders should be involved in the fight against diabetes if the problem is to be addressed. Eating healthy foods and engaging in frequent physical activities can assist in reducing diabetes in WV significantly.
References
Garg, R. (2013). Diabetes education & prevention. The Indian journal of medical research , 138 (6), 820-823.
Misra, R., Fitch, C., Roberts, D., & Wright, D. (2016). Community-based diabetes screening and risk assessment in rural West Virginia. Journal of diabetes research , 2016 .
Nazar, C. M. J., Bojerenu, M. M., Safdar, M., & Marwat, J. (2016). Effectiveness of diabetes education and awareness of diabetes mellitus in combating diabetes in the United Kingdom: A literature review. Journal of Nephropharmacology , 5 (2), 110-115.
