Nurse–Community Health Worker Team Improves Diabetes Care in American Samoa

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effectiveness of a culturally adapted, primary care-based nurse-community health worker (CHW) team intervention to support diabetes self-management on diabetes control and other biologic measures. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: Two hundred sixty-eight Samoan participants with type 2 diabetes were recruited from a community health center in American Samoa and were randomly assigned by village clusters to the nurse-CHW team intervention or to a wait-list control group that received usual care. RESULTS: Participants had a mean age of 55 years, 62% were female, mean years of education were 12.5 years, 41% were employed, and mean HbA1c was 9.8% at baseline. At 12 months, mean HbA1c was significantly lower among CHW participants, compared with usual care, after adjusting for confounders (b = -0.53; SE = 0.21; P = 0.03). The odds of making a clinically significant improvement in HbA1c of at least 0.5% in the CHW group was twice the odds in the usual care group after controlling for confounders (P = 0.05). There were no significant differences in blood pressure, weight, or waist circumference at 12 months between groups. CONCLUSIONS: A culturally adapted nurse-CHW team intervention was able to significantly improve diabetes control in the U.S. Territory of American Samoa. This represents an important translation of an evidence-based model to a high-risk population and a resource-poor setting.