Diabetes Health Coaching Improves Medication Adherence: A Pilot Study

Abstract

Adherence to medications is central to successfully managing diabetes. Health coaching, which relies on frequent contact and ongoing intervention, has emerged in recent years as part of disease management initiatives and has been promoted as an effective method for improving health outcomes and patient compliance with medication. This study evaluated a 6-month worksite health coaching model to promote medication adherence. It assessed the effectiveness of tailoring health coaching for compliance with medication regimens among people with diabetes. The program was delivered through 3 face-to-face and 3 telephone consultations. Participants set goals promoting diabetes management at the end of each monthly consultation. The authors collected questionnaires from enrolled employees at baseline (n = 27) and from those who stayed in the program at completion of the intervention (n = 23). Using the ASK-20 SM for evaluation, the authors were able to significantly reduce the average number of barriers to medication adherence from pre (3.7) to post (2.2; P < .001) in those who completed the program. The results of this study suggest that health coaching combined with tools to help identify barriers increased medication adherence.