Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #106351

Julie A. Becker, PhD, MPH¹, Christine Arenson, MD², Abbie Schlener³, Robyn Salkey², and Molly A. Rose, PhD⁴. (1) Thomas Jefferson University, 1015 Walnut Street 4th Floor, Philadelphia, PA 19107, (2) Department of Family Medicine, Thomas Jefferson University, 1015 Walnut Street 4th Floor, Philadelphia, PA 19107, (3) Department of Family Medicine, Jefferson Medical College, 1015 Walnut Street, Suite 401, Philadelphia, PA 19107, 215-955-7713, abbie.schlener@jefferson.edu, (4) College of Health Professions, Department of Nursing, Thomas Jefferson University, 130 S. 9th Street Suite 1215, Philadelphia, PA 19107

Older adults in general suffer an increased burden of chronic disease and may have less investment in the principles of disease prevention and health promotion. This burden especially affects minority elders, such African Americans. For instance, African American diabetics are less likely than whites to have received formal diabetes education, leading to less accurate knowledge about their disease and ways to mitigate its effects. Self-care for chronic ciseases has been utilized to ameliorate the increasing burden of chronic illness among older adults. A chronic disease self-management program was administered using the Stanford Patient Education Model to an older (average: 72 years), predominantly African-American population (>90%) in lower income senior housing facilities, senior centers, and churches. Throughout the six-week program, participants reported anecdotally that they experienced increased levels of trust and social networking, mirroring themes discussed in the social capital literature. To test this observation, we conducted focus groups with people who have completed the program 6 or more months prior and administered a tool to measure constructs of social capital. The feasibility of using the social capital tool was tested with this population of senior citizens. In addition, the tool was used to measure social capital pre and post intervention, to examine if social capital at the individual level changed during the time of the chronic disease self-management program. We hypothesized that participation in a chronic disease self-management program will increase trust and social networks. This study will provide quantitative measures to assess the relationship between self-management and social capital.

Learning Objectives: At the end of this presentation, participants will be able to

• Describe a chronic disease self-management program (CDSMP) and social capital;
• List three ways CDSMP and social capital are similar
• Describe a relationship between CDSMP and social capital

Keywords: Self-Management, Social Class Measurement

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.

Recorded presentation