Educating People With Diabetes About Nutritional Guidelines Utilizing The MyPlate Mobile Application

Purpose: The purpose of this quality improvement project was to improve participants understanding of nutrition utilizing the American Diabetes Association guidelines and MyPlate mobile application at the Scottsdale/ Paradise Valley YMCA. Background: Approximately 30.3 million individuals have been diagnosed with diabetes in the United States This disease requires glucose monitoring, medication adjustments, and dietary management. The American Diabetes Association (ADA) has developed evidence-based guidelines on nutrition for individuals that have been diagnosed with diabetes. As technology advances, health care information has become easier to access on mobile devices. MyPlate is a mobile nutrition application that is recommended by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to educate children and adults about nutrition. Methods: A quality improvement project, including an educational intervention and a 5-point Likert-style pre-post questionnaire, was conducted at the Scottsdale/Paradise Valley YMCA to educate participants with diabetes about the ADA guidelines on nutrition and the MyPlate mobile tracker application. A power point, handouts, and dinner were used to educate the participants. Responses to the questionnaires were organized into four categories focusing on participants’ health literacy, nutrition, the ADA guidelines, and the MyPlate application. Results: There were six participants in this quality improvement project. The surveys utilized the 5-point Likert rating scale: improvement was determined by comparing the mean of the pre- and post-surveys. The two areas that demonstrated the greatest improvement were the individuals’ understanding of the ADA guidelines and MyPlate. Moderate improvement was seen in the participants understanding of nutrition and health literacy. Conclusion: The results of survey comparisons showed the participants’ understanding of health literacy, nutrition, ADA guidelines, and MyPlate all improved after the education session. All of