chronic disease

CHW interventions for older adults with complex health needs: A systematic review

J Am Geriatr Soc. 2021 Mar 18. doi: 10.1111/jgs.17078. [Pubmed Abstract]

Kennedy MA, Hatchell KE, DiMilia PR, Kelly SM, Blunt HB, Bagley PJ, LaMantia MA, Reynolds CF 3rd, Crow RS, Maden TN, Kelly SL, Kihwele JM, Batsis JA

Abstract

Background/objectives:
The number of older adults with complex health needs is growing, and this population experiences disproportionate morbidity and mortality. Interventions led by community health workers (CHWs) can improve clinical outcomes in the general adult population with multimorbidity, but few studies have investigated CHW-delivered interventions in older adults.

Design:
We systematically reviewed the impact of CHW interventions on health outcomes among older adults with complex health needs. We searched for English-language articles from database inception through April 2020 using seven databases. PROSPERO protocol registration CRD42019118761.

Setting:
Any U.S. or international setting, including clinical and community-based…

Where Does Value Lie in Peer Support?

Qual Health Res. 2020 Oct 19:1049732320964173. doi: 10.1177/1049732320964173. [Pubmed Abstract]

Walker C, Peterson CL

Abstract

A literature review was undertaken in 2019 to review research into the effectiveness of peer support in chronic disease self-management. As with an earlier literature review, we found the results disappointing due to poor reporting and poor research design. Lack of information on training of peer supporters, unrealistically short timeframes to produce changes in health behaviors, and lack of any theoretical underpinning of the research design contributed to rating randomized controlled trials as poor to medium quality evidence. At the same time, systematic reviews consider peer support as effective, arguing that improved research design and evaluation would demonstrate this. This article discusses the need to examine more closely the contribution of peer support to chronic disease care as well as considering how research methods might more closely…

Mobile-Enhanced Peer Support for African Americans with T2D

J Gen Intern Med. 2020 Jul 22. doi: 10.1007/s11606-020-06011-w. [Pubmed Abstract]

Caroline Presley, April Agne, Tanya Shelton, Robert Oster, Andrea Cherrington

Background
Peer support has been shown to improve diabetes self-management and control, but no standard exists to link peer support interventions to clinical care.

Objective
To compare a community-based diabetes self-management education (DSME) plus mobile health (mHealth)-enhanced peer support intervention to community-based diabetes self-management education (DSME) alone for African American adults with poorly controlled type 2 diabetes.

Design
A randomized controlled trial.

Participants
African American adults, age > 19 years, receiving care within a safety-net healthcare system in Jefferson County, Alabama, with a diagnosis of type 2 diabetes and a hemoglobin A1c (A1C) ≥ 7.5%.

Interventions
Participants in the intervention group received community-based diabetes self-management education (DSME)…