The effects of health education in the management of type 2 diabetes and the Sri Lankan perspective: A Review

A high prevalence of diabetes and its microvascular and macrovascular complications constitute a significant burden on healthcare systems. Self-management through patient education contributes to reduce the burden of uncontrolled diabetes. Although there are a number of proven strategies in providing diabetes care education, there is insufficient evidence to recommend a specific type of education for our population. The aim of this article is to critically review published studies on Type 2 diabetes health literacy to establish a culturally adapted, structured education program on glycemic control for the Sri Lankans.
The review was limited to journal articles published in PubMed, Google Scholar and Google databases. Article search was done using the search headings of “patient education, type 2 diabetes and Sri Lankan studies”. All the articles found in Sri Lankan journals and other important international articles on the topic during the last decade were also reviewed.
Poor health literacy is one of the major barriers that has limited access to healthcare facilities and reduce health outcomes. Although recent research has focused on health literacy as an intervention in the treatment of diabetes, none of the Sri Lankan studies have measured its effect on glycemic control in type 2 diabetes. This review has raised the need for measuring the impact of health education on management of type 2 diabetes. This could be adopted to develop targeted interventions on patient education to be implemented in glycemic control of Type 2 diabetes in Sri Lanka.