Social Support Groups in the Maintenance of Glycemic Control after Community-Based Intervention

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Diabetes Management
• Health Disparities

Background:

• Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders (NH/PI) exhibit higher type 2 diabetes prevalence.
• Culturally tailored diabetes self-management education (DSME) interventions like Partners in Care (PIC) show initial effectiveness.
• Sustaining improvements from DSME remains a challenge, with social support groups (SSG) being a potential solution.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the impact of a diabetes-specific SSG component on maintaining improvements after a DSME intervention.
• To compare the effects of SSG versus a control group on glycemic control, self-care behaviors, and other health markers in NH/PI adults with type 2 diabetes.

Main Methods:

• A 3-month PIC DSME intervention was delivered to 47 NH/PI adults with type 2 diabetes.
• Participants were randomized to a 3-month, 6-session SSG or a control group.
• Key outcomes including HbA1c, blood pressure, lipids, and diabetes self-management knowledge/behaviors were assessed at baseline, 3, and 6 months.

Main Results:

• Significant improvements in HbA1c, diabetes self-management knowledge, and behaviors were observed from baseline to 3 months for all participants.
• No significant differences between SSG and control groups were found from 3 to 6 months, indicating sustained improvements for all.
• The SSG group demonstrated a significant decrease in systolic blood pressure from 3 to 6 months, unlike the control group.

Conclusions:

• The Partners in Care DSME intervention effectively improved glycemic control and self-care behaviors in NH/PI adults.
• Adding a diabetes-specific social support group did not yield additional benefits in maintaining glycemic control or self-care behaviors compared to a control group.
• Social support groups may offer specific benefits, such as reduced systolic blood pressure, which warrants further investigation in diabetes maintenance strategies.