Introduction:

Diabetes Mellitus (DM) is a global public health problem, which will tend to increase exponentially in the coming years, bringing with it high morbidity and mortality, and therefore, enormous human, social and economic costs. It is therefore urgent to stop this epidemic by empowering people with diabetes and the general population to prevent the disease and its complications.

Health education promoted by accredited professionals assumes an effective value, with direct gains in the epidemiological indicators of the health of the individual and community, social and economic of the countries.

Objectives:

To determine the differentiated interventions in health education carried out by the nursing team of the Diabetes Unit of the Center Hospital Tondela-Viseu in the first half of 2017.

Methods: The exploratory cross-sectional study was performed on a sample composed of 81 people, predominantly aged, with a mean age of 71.1 years, with 59 people (72.8%), aged 65 years or over, against 22 people (27.2%), aged between 39 and 65, with 50 people (61.7%) male and 31 (38.3%) female. The collection of information was based on the survey of all the consultations requested by the various hospital services, to the nursing team of the Diabetes Unit. It was supported by an ad hoc evaluation grid, created for this purpose and focused on the information existing in the clinical processes.

Results:

Type 2 diabetes is predominant in 98.8% of the sample, and the majority (n = 57, 70.4%) of DM were diagnosed. Insulin is the treatment of choice in 80.2% of the cases (n = 65). The main cause of requests for instruction related to the management of insulin administration / treatment in 86.4%. (70 lessons), namely insulin preparation and administration, sites to administer, management of the therapeutic regimen and hypo and hyperglycemia; followed by monitoring of capillary glycemia in 77.8% (63 lessons), foot care, and footwear of the person with Diabetes in 13.6% (11 lessons). Teachings were made to the person with DM in 31 of the cases (38.3%); there was a need to teach the caregiver in 32 cases (39.5%) and in both cases in 18 cases (22.2%).

Conclusions:

The low literacy of the population, namely the elderly, for the management of the health-disease status of people with DM, is evidenced by the need for teaching in patients with a previous diagnosis of DM, and the need to be instructed in health plans. Formal education as health education is essential in the approach to people with Diabetes Mellitus. It aims to enable the person to enjoy the full life, and to stay as healthy as possible. As a therapeutic pillar, health education should be privileged by the health services, in order to help people with DM to manage the dietary pattern and its therapeutic regimen, reducing its complications, morbidity and mortality, and consequently associated costs. It should be carried out by specialized professionals with in-depth scientific knowledge in the area of intervention, which should be further enabled by interpersonal skills added in order to facilitate the process. Emphasis should be placed on family members / caregivers as a complementary part of the training process, as a partner and motivational stimulus.

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