Greater Community-Clinical Linkages and Attention to Patient Life Stage: Recommendations to Improve Diabetes Self-Management Education in Hawai'i.

ABSTRACT

Patients with diabetes regularly carry out multiple disease-management behaviors-taking prescribed medications, following diet and exercise regimens, self-monitoring their blood glucose concentrations, and coping emotionally with the condition-that may require ongoing support from community and clinical resources. Diabetes self-management education (DSME) is an ongoing, patient-centered process that helps provide the knowledge, skills, and ability for self-care. Evidence suggests that DSME is most effective when reinforced by community resources, through what are called community-clinical resources. We conducted a series of qualitative key-informant interviews with DSME coordinators/managers from all counties in Hawai'i to document the landscape of DSME services in the state, focusing specifically on challenges and recommendations. We analysed the results using the socioecological model in order to chart these factors by levels of influence on health care providers, in terms of service provision, and on patients, in terms of DSME utilization. Many interviewees highlighted concerns about low utilization of DSME services, as well as practical implementation challenges (eg, group versus 1-on-1 sessions). Nonetheless, DSME coordinators/managers offered numerous recommendations to improve DSME across Hawai'i, highlighting opportunities for improved community-clinical linkages. Finally, emergent from the interviews were anxieties about increasing numbers of youth with diabetes and insufficient resources for them in DSME or other community-clinical resources. This paper offers suggestions to expand community-clinical linkages and to adapt services provided by DSME to meet patient and community needs. It is particularly timely as Hawai'i is rapidly increasing the number and diversity of DSME programs available.