Literacy-appropriate educational materials and brief counseling improve diabetes self-management.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

In this pilot study, we evaluated the impact of providing patients with a literacy-appropriate diabetes education guide accompanied by brief counseling designed for use in primary care.

Methods

We provided the Living with Diabetes guide and brief behavior change counseling to 250 English and Spanish speaking patients with type 2 diabetes. Counseling sessions using collaborative goal setting occurred at baseline and by telephone at 2 and 4 weeks. We measured patients' activation, self-efficacy, diabetes distress, knowledge, and self-care at baseline and 3-month follow-up.

Results

Statistically significant (pConclusionA diabetes self-management support package combining literacy-appropriate patient education materials with brief counseling suitable for use in primary care resulted in important short-term health-related psychological and behavioral changes across literacy levels.

Practice implications

Coupling literacy-appropriate education materials with brief counseling in primary care settings may be an effective and efficient strategy for imparting skills necessary for diabetes self-management.

SUBMITTER: Wallace AS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3773938 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature