Screening for food insecurity in primary care to enhance the management of dysglycemia in individuals with Type 2 Diabetes

Type 2 Diabetes (DM 2) is increasingly prevalent worldwide. Its potential for debilitating long-term sequelae and subsequent burden on healthcare systems highlight the importance of adequate diabetes management. Glucose control remains central to treatment and often includes nutritional therapy, pharmacotherapy and self-management strategies. Individuals with DM 2 who experience food insecurity (FI) are at an increased risk of poorly managed diabetes. Nurse practitioners in primary care are specifically skilled at identifying patient difficulties in making, adopting and adhering to lifestyle changes, thus are ideally positioned to address barriers to chronic disease management. However, it remains unclear how FI influences DM 2 and how it is accurately identified in the primary care setting. An integrative literature review was completed to identify which strategies nurse practitioners can employ in primary care to identify and thus enhance the management of DM 2 among patients experiencing FI.