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

Abstract #112775

Lori Keeling Buhi, MPH¹, Kyrel L. Rowell, MPH², Desiree Rivers, MSPH², Gabriela Trevino², Melanie Sarabia, BCH, BA², and B. Lee Green, PhD². (1) Bryan-College Station Community Health Center, 3370 South Texas Avenue, Bryan, TX 77802, 979-595-1703, lbuhi@bvcaa.org, (2) Texas A&M University, Center for the Study of Health Disparities, 112 Harrington Tower, TAMU 4222, College Station, TX 77843

Diabetes continues to disproportionately affect racial and ethnic minorities and the medically-underserved. The Bryan-College Station Community Health Center, in collaboration with the Center for the Study of Health Disparities at Texas A&M University, has implemented a diabetes self-management education program targeting the medically-underserved. The purpose of this session is to: describe the implementation of an evidence-based self-management education program within a federally-qualified health center; present process and preliminary outcome data from the program; and discuss challenges faced during program implementation. The overall goal of the program is to improve the health status of patients with diabetes by increasing self-efficacy and the practice of healthy behaviors. The program is informed by evidence-based guidelines/practices set forth by the National Health Disparities Collaborative on Diabetes. Provision of self-management education includes: assessment of patient needs and self-management practices, patient education in response to identified needs, collaborative goal setting and problem solving with patients, continual patient evaluation, and follow-up on patient self-management goals. Process and preliminary outcome data from the program will be presented, including reach of the program, number of patients with documented self-management goals, patient self-efficacy regarding behavior change, self-management goal achievement, clinical outcomes, and demographic data. Preliminary results indicate: the program has reached over 230 primarily medically-underserved, minority patients (63% Hispanic/Latino, 19% African American, and 94% uninsured); 62% of all patients with diabetes have documented self-management goals; and clinical outcomes have improved, including decreases in HbA1c and blood pressure. Challenges faced and methods used to overcome those challenges will also be discussed.

Learning Objectives:

• • Describe the implementation of an evidence-based self-management education program within a federally-qualified health center
• • Present process and preliminary outcome data from the program
• • Discuss challenges faced during program implementation and methods used to overcome those challenges

Keywords: Diabetes, Self-Management

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.