Increased knowledge levels of  patients with diabetes in resource-limited communities after receiving peer-led education

AbstractDiabetes self-management education through peer support has been beneficial, especially in regions with limited medical resources. Studying the effects of education offered by trained peers  of patients will facilitate tailoring the peer-led education programs to the regions’ specific needs. Here, we evaluated changes in diabetes-related indicators in Filipino patients who received a peer-led education. We used data on 23 patients (age, 67.83 ± 6.69 years; 82.6% female) who p articipated in all five surveys performed every 6 months from March 2017 to March 2019. After the second survey until the end of this study, the participants were educated in diabetes self-management by their 13 peers who previously had received the training in diabetes self-management. Participan ts’ knowledge of diabetes and the related ‘cause, risk factors, nature of diabetes and complications’ subindicator were greater on all surveys after starting the peer-led education compared with those on the second survey (i.e. before starting the education); these values did not differ betwe en the first two surveys. Because increasing patients’ knowledge can enhance their ability to self-manage their disease and thus improve their quality of life, strategies to expand patients’ knowledge about diabetes should be included when organizing peer-led education in regions with limited me dical resources.
Source: Health Education Research - Category: Research Source Type: research