Final Project Plan
Introduction
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From the resource material, the practice problem identified is inadequate emphasis on nutrition and physical exercise in diabetes management at the practicum site. As indicated, only medication is offered as a form of diabetes management. However, there is a need to put into use other additional strategies to increase patient outcomes. For this issue to be addressed, there will be a need to develop a strategic project management plan, as stated by Fuertes et al. (2020), with the utilization of appropriate tools like the Gantt chart that will help in designing and planning the identified practice change.
The Gantt chart is more effective in visually representing the project’s dependencies, timelines, and tasks (Khandare et al., 2021). These can be especially useful in scheduling and organizing activities of the practice change (Ramachandran & Karthick, 2019). SMART objectives will also be included in the plan to ensure that the project is Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound altogether. According to Duca (2021), the application of SMART objectives will help implement the practice change effectively and improve the results of diabetes management in a specific population of identified patients.
Strategic Project Management Tool
As mentioned, the Gantt chart is a project management tool that will be used to create the strategic project management plan. It visually depicts the tasks, timelines, and dependencies of projects (Khandare et al., 2021). The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ, 2022) explains that the Gantt chart is frequently employed to track SMART objectives within projects, providing a visual guide or reference for milestones and other pertinent information. This information involves specific tasks or activities and when they are projected to be completed by (i.e., timelines), while the status of these tasks and any associated objectives may also be visualized in the Gantt chart (AHRQ, 2022).
The Gantt chart is basically a sideways bar chart, with the horizontal axis showing the date and the vertical axis depicting the tasks and assignments, while the estimated length of time for each task can be visualized by the width of the bars (AHRQ, 2022). Research shows that within the health care field, Gantt charts represent an effective project management tool that can enable change interventions and quality improvement initiatives to be more effectively implemented (AHRQ, 2022). Those involved in these interventions (i.e., projects) can more easily see which tasks have been completed (and by when) as well as the tasks that still need to be finished and their specific deadlines (AHRQ, 2022). With the Gantt chart, all team members can stay on track both in regard to time and resources, thus preventing many potential challenges that could arise during the implementation of these interventions (AHRQ, 2022).
Strategic Project Management Plan
The Objective Of The Project
This project’s objective is to implement a detailed approach to diabetes management that will include nutrition and physical exercise education for patients with diabetes in the practicum site.
Scope of the Project
The project will involve diabetic staff and stakeholders at the practicum site. The process will involve reaching more staff and stakeholders, and get them actively engaged. This will be followed by engaging physical and nutrition experts to create relevant exercise and diet plans. After that, education sessions for staff on benefits and types of physical exercise as well as nutrition; to include the type of food to include in one daily diet will be conducted, which will then be followed by the implementation of the exercise and diet program into use. Specifically, the Diabetes Self Management Education and Support (DSMES) program framework will be used for this project’s design and implementation. Research indicates that DSMES programs are evidence-based practices for supporting primary self-care behaviors in patients with diabetes (Evert et al., 2019). In fact, DSMES programs are recommended by the American Diabetes Association (ADA, 2022) to help diabetic individuals improve their self-management abilities. The program teaches those with diabetes about several critical behaviors they must engage in to reduce their risk of complications due to their chronic illness (Evert et al., 2019). These include components such as the importance of eating healthy, staying physically active, taking prescribed medications, and closely monitoring blood sugar levels (Evert et al., 2019).
Timeline of the Project
The project is expected to be completed within 12 weeks, including the project initiation date. Division of the timeline will be based on the following phases:
Phase 1: In week 1, Meet with staff and stakeholders will take place
Phase 2: From weeks 2-4, Development of Diet and Exercise Plan.
It will involve engaging nutrition and physical experts to create comprehensive diet and exercise plans for those with diabetes while considering their ages and health statuses.
Phase 3: Between weeks 5-8, Running of staff’s education sessions.
Education sessions on proper nutrition and physical exercise will be conducted with staff members, as they will be directed on the types of food to avoid, or take in moderation. Also, they will be advised on the kinds of exercises appropriate to involve and different precautions to adhere to.
Phase 4: From weeks 9-12, Diet and Exercise Program implementation.
This will involve implementing exercise and diet programs with frequent monitoring and follow-up to ensure they adhere to the instructions.
Resources for the Project
The resources that will be needed for the successful implementation of the project include the following:
- Experts in nutrition and physical exercises will play a role in developing diet and exercise plans.
- Educators will be required to assist in conducting the education sessions for diabetic patients
- Physiotherapists will also be valuable in offering guidance on appropriate kinds of exercises to the patients.
- There will also be a need for materials and facilities for conducting education sessions to implement the exercise and diet program.
- Administrative support will also help register and schedule particular patients at a time.
The Budget of the Project Needed
The project’s budget will be developed regarding the resources needed for the project to be accomplished. These resources would include educator salaries, physiotherapist salaries, material costs, and fees for nutrition and physical experts. Before the budget is implemented, selected stakeholders will review and approve it.
SMART Objectives
Specific: Developing and implementing an education program for staff and stakeholder at the site.
Measurable: Monitoring the outcome of the education program while evaluating the education program effectiveness across data collection and analyzation.
Achievable: Entails involving physical and nutrition experts in designing the program, training nurses on how to deliver education programs, and providing continuous support to staff.
Relevant: Comprise of addressing an identified gap in diabetes management at the facility and enhancing staff knowledge.
Time-bound: Involve completing the program development and implementation within nine weeks timeline and evaluating the program’s effectiveness in the remaining period. Besides, the timeline or duration of tasks will need to be adjusted in line with the specific needs and resources of the site.
References
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. (2022). Gantt Chart. https://digital.ahrq.gov/
health-it-tools-and-resources/evaluation-resources/workflow-assessment-health-it-toolkit/all-workflow-tools/gantt-chart
American Diabetes Association. (2022). Standards of Medical Care in Diabetes-2022
Abridged for Primary Care Providers. Clinical diabetes : a publication of the American Diabetes Association, 40(1), 10–38. https://doi.org/10.2337/cd22-as01
Duca, G. (2021). Design of the smart objectives system in the management of a research project. In Proceedings of the Fifteenth International Conference on Management Science and Engineering Management: Volume 2 15 (pp. 452-462). Springer International Publishing.
Evert, A. B., Dennison, M., Gardner, C. D., Garvey, W. T., Lau, K. H. K., MacLeod, J., Mitri, J., Pereira, R. F., Rawlings, K., Robinson, S., Saslow, L., Uelmen, S., Urbanski, P. B., & Yancy, W. S., Jr (2019). Nutrition Therapy for Adults With Diabetes or Prediabetes: A Consensus Report. Diabetes care, 42(5), 731–754. https://doi.org/10.2337/dci19-0014
Fuertes, G., Alfaro, M., Vargas, M., Gutierrez, S., Ternero, R., & Sabattin, J. (2020). Conceptual framework for the strategic management: A literature review—descriptive. Journal of Engineering, 2020, 1-21. https://doi.org/10.1155/2020/6253013
Khandare, M. D. P., & Nagare, M. R. (2021). Prepare Project Schedule using Microsoft Project. International Journal of Research Publication and Reviews a(8), 233-245. https://www.ijrpr.com/uploads/V2ISSUE8/IJRPR941.pdf
Ramachandran, K. K., & Karthick, K. K. (2019). Gantt chart: An important tool of management. International Journal of Innovative Technology and Exploring Engineering 8(7). https://www.ijitee.org/wp-content/uploads/papers/v8i7c/G10260587C19.pdf