The research examined in this study tended, on the whole, to affirm the importance of providing educational and intervention services to young adults and adolescents diagnosed as having Type 1 diabetes. Specifically, MacFarlane, et al (2001), Whittemore (200), and Raji, et al (2002) all argued that patient education, particularly education focused on identification of potentially damaging lifestyle behaviors such as smoking, a lack of exercise, and poor diet and nutrition, is a necessary aspect of nursing care for members of this patient population. Other research, including that of Raile, et al (1999), emphasized the importance of identifying the degree to which adolescents and young adults with this condition participate in physical activities, including both recreational exercise or sports and competitive sports.
Chernoff, et al (2002) explored the efficacy of community-based support services for families of young people with chronic illnesses including Type 1 diabetes and concluded that a targeted intervention involving maternal caretakers and provided by nurses and/or other health care professionals was likely to be effective in inducing adherence to lifestyle shifts needed to improve the symptoms of the illness. Conversely, Renders, et al (2001) suggested that health care practitioners themselves would be well served by participation in an educational training effort structured to improve the management of diabetes in primary care, outpatient, and community settings.
The research regarding nursing care and the management of diabetes among patients in the target age cohort of 18 to 25 is quite extensive. On the whole, the literature identifies both the kinds of lifestyle behavior change that are needed to improve the health status of patients with Type I diabetes and the roles that nurses should undertake in bringing about these changes. There is extensive information on the importance of patient education as a ke...