peer support
Workplace Wellness Meets Peer Coaching: Fuel Your Life
Clayton Velicer, MPH
Two strengths of the peer support model are 1) flexibility for adaptation to different communities or settings and 2) modularity, which offers the ability to build peer support on top of existing programs to create more effective, multi-level interventions. In the United States, the Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP) has been adapted to incorporate peer support in a variety of settings and populations.
According to the American Diabetes Association website, the DPP has 8 key features, which includes individual case managers or lifestyle coaches, frequent contact, a core curriculum that teaches behavioral self-management, and clinical support.
The role of the case manager or lifestyle coach can be adapted for peer health coaches. When Peers for Progress grantee Tricia Tang incorporated peer support into the DPP in a church-based setting, she found the adaptation feasible and enhanced the potential to improve health outcomes for high-risk African…
My Reflections from ADA 2014
Sarah Kowitt, MPH
Two weeks ago marked my second trip to the annual American Diabetes Association conference. Held in San Francisco, the conference brought together experts from around the world to tackle the most pressing issues in diabetes care and research. As a PhD student in Health Behavior, here are my takeaways from the sessions.
Meeting People from Around the World
The ADA conference was attended by approximately 17,300 people from more than 121 countries. Anecdotally, I heard that 40% of the attendees came from outside the United States. With a “World Cup Lounge” set up on the second floor where participants could watch live football matches, this was not hard to believe.
While presenting my poster on emotional support for patients with type 2 diabetes, I struck up conversations with a researcher from Montreal, a health educator from Orlando, a doctor from Nigeria, a diabetologist from Denmark, and a nurse practitioner from China. I also participated in…
Bridging the Gap between Cultural Communities and Health Providers
Our colleagues at the Center for Health Law and Policy Innovation at Harvard Law posted this blog on our recent meeting in San Francisco.
In it they share two resources they developed for the meeting:
The first paper, Affordable Care Act (ACA) Opportunities for Community Health Workers, generally explores the policy and legal framework underlying the ACA, which increases the role of CHWs within the US healthcare system.
The second paper, Community Health Worker Credentialing, more specifically discusses different state approaches to recognizing and reimbursing their CHWs through both public and private insurance.
Please visit their site to read the full article.
