While the need for psychosocial interventions in the early formative period of chronic disease diagnosis is widely acknowledged, little is known about the currently available interventions and what they entail. This review sought to collate existing interventions to synthesize their active ingredients. A systematic search on five electronic databases yielded 2910 records, 12 of which were eligible for this review. Evidence synthesis revealed three broad categories of interventions which used at least two out of eight active techniques. Future studies should adhere to known frameworks for intervention development, and focus on developing core outcome measures to enhance evidence synthesis

Type 2 diabetes and obesity are serious public health concerns globally and a growing burden in Africa. Both conditions have serious repercussions on health when they co-occur, yet the extent of th...

Aim: To synthesize evidence on the concept of reassurance in nursing practice.Design: Integrative review.Review Method: PubMed, OVID MEDLINE, CINAHL and PsycINFO were searched from their inception to the 30 May 2020. The search results were screened. We assessed the quality of primary studies using the Mixed Method Appraisal Tool. Included studies were analysed using narrative synthesis. The review protocol was pre‐registered (PROSPERO‐CRD42020186962).Results: Thirty‐two papers out of the 2,771 search results met our inclusion criteria. The synthesis of evidence generated three intricate themes, namely “antecedents of reassurance,” “defining attributes of reassurance” and “outcomes of reassurance.” Emotional distress was the main antecedent of reassurance. The three sub‐themes identified under defining attributes of reassurance include self‐awareness, emotional connectedness and verbal and non‐verbal techniques. Ultimately, reposing the confidence of patients and their families in healthcare professionals and the care delivery process to enable them to overcome their challenges constitutes the outcomes of reassurance.

The utilization of traditional medicine (TM) is prevalent among the general population in Africa; however, its use among individuals with diabetes in the region remains underdocumented. This review aimed to synthesize the available literature to identify the prevalence and predictors of TM use among persons with diabetes in Africa. A systematic search was conducted across multiple databases, including MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL, and AMED, covering studies published from 2000 to April 2023. Of 1560 records identified, 24 articles met the inclusion criteria. The prevalence of TM use varied significantly, ranging from 12.4% to 77.1%, with a median prevalence of 50%. TM was commonly used concurrently with conventional medicine (CM) (35.4–88.4%), with a majority (63.8–91.3%) not disclosing TM use to healthcare providers. Female gender, long diabetes duration, use of oral antiglycaemic medication and family history of diabetes emerged as the most common factors that predicted the use of TM. This review highlights the widespread use of TM among individuals with diabetes in Africa, often in conjunction with CM. The high prevalence of undisclosed TM use emphasizes the urgent need for healthcare providers to actively inquire about TM use during clinical consultations to address potential herb–drug interactions and adverse effects.

Background: Poor adherence to dietary recommendations among persons with type 2 diabetes (T2D) can lead to long-term complications with concomitant increases in healthcare costs and mortality rates. This study aimed to identify factors associated with dietary adherence and explore the barriers and facilitators to dietary adherence among persons with T2D. Methods: A concurrent mixed methods study was conducted in two hospitals in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. One hundred and forty-two (142) persons with T2D were consecutively sampled for the survey. Dietary adherence and diabetes-related nutritional knowledge (DRNK) were assessed using the Perceived Dietary Adherence Questionnaire (PDAQ) and an adapted form of the General Nutritional Knowledge Questionnaire (GNKQ-R) respectively. A purposive sample of fourteen participants was selected for interviews to explore the factors that influence dietary adherence. Qualitative data were analysed using NVivo version 20 software and presented as themes. Furthermore, binary logistic regression was performed using IBM SPSS version 29.0 to identify the factors associated with dietary adherence. Results: Nearly fifty-one percent (50.7%) of the participants in this study had good dietary adherence. In multivariable logistics regression, it was found that increase in DRNK (AOR = 1.099, 95% CI: 1.001–1.206, p = 0.041) score and living in an urban area (AOR = 3.041, 95% CI: 1.007–9.179, p = 0.047) were significantly associated with good dietary adherence. Inductive thematic analysis revealed four facilitators of dietary adherence (access to information on diet, individual food preferences and eating habits, perceived benefits of dietary adherence, and presence of social support) and four barriers (inability to afford recommended diets, barriers related to foods available in the environment, conflict between dietary recommendations and individual eating habits, and barriers related to the social environment). Conclusion: The findings support the need for interventions including continuous dietary education tailored to individual preferences and dietary habits, expansion of poverty reduction social interventions and formulation of policies that will improve access to healthy foods in communities.