A Community-Based Program to Encourage Patients’ Attention to Their Own Diabetes Care

Abstract

PURPOSE: The authors evaluated the ability of a brief educational program to enhance patients' self-care behavior and their familiarity with the meaning and utility of 5 of the major clinical tests in diabetes (A1C, blood pressure, low-density lipoprotein [LDL] cholesterol, microalbumin, and the dilated eye examination). METHODS: Adults with type 1 or type 2 diabetes were invited to attend a free, 90-minute, small-group workshop about diabetes care, which included on-site metabolic testing that provided patients with immediate results and personalized feedback to understand those results. In total, 221 individuals with diabetes participated and completed baseline and 3-month follow-up questionnaires. RESULTS: From baseline to 3 months, participants reported significant improvement in following recommendations for meal planning (P < .001), regular exercise (P < .002), and blood glucose monitoring (P < .05) and a significant rise in test awareness for A1C, blood pressure, LDL cholesterol, and microalbumin (in all cases, P < .001). CONCLUSIONS: A brief educational intervention appeared effective in encouraging patients toward better self-management and more regular metabolic testing and to become more aware of their own test results. Future research should aim to replicate and extend these findings in a randomized controlled trial.