Community health workers versus nurses as counselors or case managers in a self-help diabetes management program

K.B. Kim, M.T. Kim, H.B. Lee, T. Nguyen, L.R. Bone and D. Levine

American Journal of Public Health, 2016, vol. 106, issue 6, 1052-1058

Abstract: Objectives.To confirm the effectiveness of community health workers' involvement as counselors or case managers in a self-help diabetes management program in 2009 to 2014. Methods. Our open-label, randomized controlled trial determined the effectiveness of a self-help intervention among Korean Americans aged 35 to 80 years in the Baltimore-Washington metropolitan area with uncontrolled type 2 diabetes. We measured and analyzed physiological and psychobehavioral health outcomes of the community health worker-counseled (n = 54) and registered nurse (RN)-counseled (n = 51) intervention groups in comparison with the control group (n = 104). Results. The community health workers' performance was comparable to that of the RNs for both psychobehavioral outcomes (e.g., self-efficacy, quality of life) and physiological outcomes.The community health worker-counseled group showed hemoglobin A1C reductions from baseline (-1.2%, -1.5%, -1.3%, and -1.6%, at months 3, 6, 9, and 12, respectively), all of which were greater than reductions in the RN-counseled (-0.7%, -0.9%, -0.9%, and -1.0%) or the control (-0.5%, -0.5%, -0.6%, and -0.7%) groups. Conclusions. Community health workers performed as well as or better than nurses as counselors or case managers in a self-help diabetes management program in a Korean American community.

Keywords: glucose blood level; glycosylated hemoglobin, adult; aged; analysis; Asian American; blood; case manager; controlled study; disease management; glucose blood level; health auxiliary; human; Maryland; middle aged; non insulin dependent diabetes mellitus; nurse; procedures; psychology; randomized controlled trial; self care; very elderly, Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Asian Americans; Baltimore; Blood Glucose; Case Managers; Community Health Workers; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2; Disease Management; Hemoglobin A, Glycosylated; Humans; Middle Aged; Nurses; Self Care (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:aph:ajpbhl:10.2105/ajph.2016.303054_4

DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2016.303054

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