The presented case is concerned with developing the diet modification for a 28-year-old Janice, who, although she is in her third trimester of pregnancy, has been diagnosed with Iron deficiency anemia (IDA). Iron deficiency anemia is characterized by reduced hemoglobin concentration to less than 110g/l. When a woman is pregnant, the body generates sufficient blood to support the growth of the fetus. However, a woman who does not have a sufficient supply of iron hinders the body from producing enough red blood cells (Breymann, 2015). In severe cases, iron deficiency may predispose a woman to give birth prematurely or deliver an underweight baby. IDA can hinder sufficient milk production, making the woman suffer from postpartum depression (Breymann, 2015). Due to the negative consequences associated with IDA, healthcare professions need to develop learning objectives that will help in educating parties about how to manage IDA. Therefore, this paper seeks to expound on learning objectives that will help Janice improve her condition by modifying her diet. The teaching plan will be based on the cognitive, affective, and psychomotor domains.
Cognitive Domain
This domain’s main objective is to increase Janice’s awareness of what IDA entails and how it can be managed. Most individuals do not know how to define IDA; however, the teaching session will help Janice learn how to define IDA, including some of the cognitive impairments that may arise due to iron deficiency. Learning about the effects of cognitive impairments will lay a foundation for Janice to take precautionary measures to prevent such a condition from arising in the future.
The presented scenario reveals that Janice is currently suffering from cognitive dizziness, which can be attributed to the lack of iron in her body. Occasionally, individuals who have sufficient iron supply in their bodies due to reduced iron and Vitamin B12 lead to anemia, especially among pregnant women. As a result, educating her about the primary sources will be vital. Some of the common sources of iron include liver, dark green vegetables, lean red meat, eggs, iron-rich grains and cereals, and lentils (Brannon & Taylor, 2017). To ensure that Janice boosts her iron levels quickly, she should consume at least three servings of Iron-rich food per day.
Affective Domain
The primary objective under this domain is to help normalize the patient’s attitudes, feelings, and values on particular food to help her adequately modify her diet. Since the affective domain is primarily concerned with the values, attitudes, and emotions of different groups, teaching patients about normalizing them lays a foundation for making healthy decisions. According to the presented case, Janice reports feeling fatigued although she is in her third trimester. When a person is in her third trimester of pregnancy, they produce sufficient blood to cater to the unborn child’s needs adequately. As a result, the chances of the other suffering from fatigue are very high because most of her iron stores are used by the baby.
Despite the mother suffering from fatigue and IDA, her condition can easily change when she embraces an iron-rich diet. Although a variety of iron-rich foods exist, the body can absorb more iron meat when compared to other sources. As a result, Janice should boos her Iron supply from meat if she wants to give birth to a normal baby. Different fruits can increase the absorption rate of iron in the body. They include Vitamin C-rich fruits such as citrus, grapefruits, oranges, strawberries, and tangerines. Janice should therefore also double her consumption of these vital fruits.
Psychomotor Domain
The primary aim of this domain is to help individuals improve their physical and psychomotor skills, including movement and coordination of the body. According to the presented case, Janice reports being experiencing shortness of breath and leg cramps. During pregnancy, muscle cramps may arise due to the increasing pressure of the baby as well as the insufficient supply of blood in the body. When a baby is growing in the womb, it may insert pressure on the blood vessels leading to the reduced blood supply and this, in turn, translates to cramps (Zhou et al., 2015). Having this in mind, iron supply can be increased in various ways. One of the strategies that can be adopted is by enhancing the bioavailability of iron ingested by a person instead of the total amount. Adopting the bioavailability strategy is essential since it helps in boosting iron stores by approximately 30 percent (Zhou et al., 2015). Regardless of the strategy adopted by a person, most of them help increase iron stores to a greater extent.
With the increasing prevalence of anemia among pregnant women, increasing meat consumption in starch-based diets is vital in helping increase the iron level. However, care should be taken to ensure that meat is not consumed in excess since it may be toxic to other body organs. In situations where plant proteins are used to boost iron levels, pregnant women should take more vitamin C to increase its absorption (Ems & Huecker, 2021). Most homes in rural settings do not attach importance to taking fruits in their diets; as a result, they should be encouraged to include this food component in their diets. Despite the advantages associated with vitamin C, especially in absorbing iron, most households do not know how to prepare vegetables, destroying them when cooking (Ems & Huecker, 2021). As a result, different individuals should be taught how to prepare them or consume them when raw since doing so will help increase the bioavailability of iron in the body.
Conclusively, setting learning objectives during a health education helps guide educators about what they should teach their patients and what they should not. Based on the formulated learning objectives, I have been able to decide on the suitable instructional aids and teaching methods that I should use when educating Janice about the various aspects of Iron deficiency anemia.
References
Brannon, P. M., & Taylor, C. L. (2017). Iron supplementation during pregnancy and infancy: uncertainties and implications for research and policy. Nutrients, 9(12), 1327. https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/9/12/1327
Breymann, C. (2015, October). Iron deficiency anemia in pregnancy. In Seminars in hematology (Vol. 52, No. 4, pp. 339-347). WB Saunders. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0037196315000591
Ems, T., & Huecker, M. R. (2021). Biochemistry, iron absorption. StatPearls [Internet].
Zhou, K., West, H. M., Zhang, J., Xu, L., & Li, W. (2015). Interventions for leg cramps in pregnancy. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, (8).
