Building Competency in Diabetes Education THE ESSENTIALS

SELF-MANAGEMENT EDUCATION & SUPPORT: PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT| 11-111

bonds/connections of the family to outside systems (3). Ecomaps (a pictorial description of the relationship between a family and external individuals, organizations or agencies) are useful in examining the nature and strength of the bonds between family members and their suprasystems.

Values and beliefs This part of the assessment is concerned with the person’s values and belief systems, which are important determinants of behaviour.

Data collection should include:

Rationale for including this assessment area & application to SME: • Self-perception/self-concept, roles and relationships, and values and belief patterns of health: Rich sources of information that provide the context for understanding behaviour choices. • Health-seeking and health-maintenance behaviours reflect the interaction among the characteristics of the person, his or her social group, the characteristics of his or her culture and the characteristics of the society in which he or she lives. Some cultural characteristics may revolve around time orientation, locus of control and health belief system, including myths and misinformation. • Community-based strategies are indicated for population public health approaches and for certain cultural communities. • Relationship of spirituality to understanding of disease state.

• Individual characteristics, including knowledge base, locus of control, belief systems, expectations regarding illness/health, and personal health history/status. • Social group characteristics, including family/kin and significant others, as well as friends and their values/beliefs/behaviours during illness episodes. • Cultural characteristics, including shared history and norms for behaviour specific to a cultural group. • Societal structure and organization, including demographics, geographic distribution, economics, social welfare policies and the healthcare system. • Spirituality.